Leo XIV now has his own Vatican coins

Attention, numismatists. The Vatican City State Mint has issued a new series of coins to commemorate the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV and the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi.

The first papal portrait in nearly a decade

The first series of euro coins from the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV features both the portrait and the coat of arms of the 267th successor of Peter. The series also includes a special five-euro commemorative coin depicting the moment when St. Francis renounced his worldly possessions before the bishop of Assisi to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, with the obverse showing the portrait of Pope Leo XIV.

This is the first time in nearly a decade that the Vatican has issued coins bearing the portrait of a pope. In 2017, Pope Francis requested that his portrait no longer appear on Vatican coins, making the Vatican at that time the only euro-issuing country without the image of its head of state on its circulating coins.

From a collector's item to a coin for everyday use

The euro became the official currency of Vatican City in 2002. According to Coins Weekly, Vatican euro coins command very high prices among collectors due to their limited mintage and the high demand for the smallest mintings of all euro coins.

The current set of commemorative coins, with a face value of 3.88 euros, sells for 39 euros (about $45) on the official website of the Vatican's numismatic office. In 2009, the Vatican agreed to put at least 51 % of the minted coins into circulation at their face value, rather than solely as collector’s items, which led gift shops at the Vatican Museums and other businesses in the microstate to begin giving the 50-cent coins featuring the papal coat of arms as change.

Sister Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist who serves as President of the Government of Vatican City State, recently described the Vatican City State Mint as «not only a place of production, but also a repository of historical and economic memory because, through the processes of engraving, casting, and minting, it creates coins that imprint a message of universal significance on metal.».

A design with references to Louis XIV

Distinctive elements of Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms appear on the new Vatican two-euro coins, which feature a lily—symbolizing purity and devotion to the Virgin Mary—and a flaming heart pierced by an arrow resting on an open book, emblematic of Augustinian spirituality.

The design of the Vatican’s new coins is the work of Italian artist Daniela Longo, who also designed the coins for Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, as well as the special «sede vacante» coins issued in 2005 following the death of John Paul II. «Sede vacante» is the period during which the See of Rome is vacant prior to the election of a new pope.