5 Euros Georges Bizet

San Marino's long-running series of commemorative silver issues honoring composers reaches Bizet in 2025 — a composer whose reputation rested almost entirely on a single opera that flopped at its 1875 Paris premiere. Carmen was received so poorly that Bizet died three months later, reportedly convinced it was a failure. Within a year of his death, it had become one of the most performed operas in the world.