10 000 Lire - Ioannes Paulus II Crucifixion

The 1998 Vatican silver issues fall within John Paul II's extended pontificate, by then in its twentieth year and increasingly shaped by his deteriorating health from Parkinson's disease. Vatican coinage of this period was produced by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome under annual sets aimed squarely at the collector market — circulation was never the intent for denominations at this level.

KM#291 is part of the Anno XX commemorative series marking two decades of his papacy.