Vatican

2010

Commemorative coin

The Year for Priests

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin features a shepherd drawing a lamb from a lion’s maw. Two inscriptions are engraved around the design: the issuing country ‘CITTA’ DEL VATICANO’ on the top and the subject of commemoration ‘ANNO SACERDOTALE’ below it. The year ‘2010’ is desplayed to the left of the design, the mintmark ‘R’ at the bottom and the artist’s name ‘VEROI’ to the right. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

The coin was issued on the occasion of the Year for Priests (ANNO SACERDOTALE) 2009, proclaimed on the 150th anniversary of the death of Jean-Marie Vianney (1786-1859). Vianney was a Catholic priest ("the Holy Curé of Ars") who sacrificed himself in his ministry. He has been considered the patron saint of priests since his canonization in 1929. It depicts a shepherd (symbolizing a priest) who snatches a lamb from the mouth of a lion - a good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10, 11). In David and Goliat we read that the servant who tends his father's sheep killed a lion that stole a sheep from the flock and saved the sheep from its mouth (1 Samuel 17:34-35).

Edge lettering

Designer