5 Lire Men are Citizens of the World

San Marino began issuing its own coinage for general circulation in 1972 after decades of relying almost entirely on Italian currency under the terms of their monetary convention with Italy. The 1973 series, of which this piece is part, coincided with the early years of that renewed minting program and carried thematic titles — unusual for circulation coinage — reflecting the republic's self-consciously humanist political identity during that period.