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500 Lire Tommaso Campanella
| Issuer | Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989 |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse design is divided into two symbolic halves evoking Campanella's utopian philosophical work 'La Città del Sole' (The City of the Sun). The left half features a sailing ship with billowing sails, referencing exploration and the ideal state, while the right half depicts a domed rotunda with arched colonnades. Alchemical and astrological symbols — including those for Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and the Moon — are scattered across the upper field. A multi-line quotation from Campanella's writings spirals concentrically through the central field, with the denomination L. 500, mint mark R, and the date 1989 inscribed along the lower portion. |
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| Additional information |
Campanella spent the better part of 27 years imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition following his involvement in a failed 1599 Calabrian revolt, during which he feigned madness to avoid execution. He wrote La Città del Sole — his utopian philosophical treatise — while confined in Castel Nuovo. Italy issued several commemorative 500 lire pieces through the 1980s honoring figures of intellectual and historical significance, this being among the later entries in that run.