5 Euro Cent Pius XI

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.