Catalog
5 Euro Cent Pius XI
| Issuer | Vatican City State |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.2 g |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Pope Pius XI facing left, wearing the papal zucchetto and clerical vestments, rendered in moderate relief with detailed hair and facial features. The curved Latin legend PIUS XI PONT. MAX. arcs around the upper periphery of the coin, identifying the pontiff as Supreme Pontiff. The field is plain, with the truncation of the bust falling near the lower rim. The portrait is executed in a classical ecclesiastical style consistent with early twentieth-century Vatican coinage traditions adapted for this fantasy issue. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Issued in the final year before the sede vacante coinage that followed John Paul II's death in April 2005, Vatican euro sets from this period were produced in extremely limited quantities exclusively for collectors — none entered general circulation. This particular type bears the name of Pius XI, who negotiated the Lateran Treaty of 1929 with Mussolini's government, establishing Vatican City as a sovereign state and resolving the Roman Question that had festered since 1870.