5 Lire - Pavlvs VI

Paul VI's 1966 coinage series was produced during the sede vacante year following the close of the Second Vatican Council, which had concluded in December 1965. The Council's reforms created genuine institutional uncertainty around Vatican numismatic iconography, as longstanding visual conventions were being reconsidered alongside broader liturgical change. Aluminum 5 Lire pieces of this period saw negligible circulation — Vatican coinage was effectively a collector instrument by this decade, with Italian Lire handling all practical transactions within the city-state.