50 Euro Cents - Sede Vacante

Sede Vacante issues are struck during a papal interregnum — the period between a pope's death and the election of his successor — under the authority of the Camerlengo rather than the papacy itself. This 2005 piece was produced following the death of John Paul II on April 2nd, making it one of the rarer Vatican emission types, as the window for production is constitutionally brief and mintage figures are tightly capped by the Governorate.

The Camerlengo presiding over that interregnum was Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo.