Italy

2016

Commemorative coin

2200. anniversary of the death of Tito Maccio Plautus

Official Journal of the European Union

Theatre masks representing two characters of the New Comedy, the young woman and the slave, from a mosaic of the II century A.D. (Rome, Capitoline Museums); around construction plan of a Roman theatre and the logo of the Italian Republic ‘RI’; on the left side ‘R’ and on the right side ‘LDS’, initials of the author Luciana De Simoni; below ‘184 a. C.’, ‘2016’ and ‘PLAUTO’. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

Plautus (254-184 B.C.) was one of the first and most prolific comedy poets in ancient Rome. The motif shows theatre masks from a mosaic created around 100 BC, today in the Capitoline Museums. They depict two characters of the New Comedy, the young woman and the slave - with a corona of vines - whose bacchanalian features evoke associations with Dionysus, the god of ecstasy, intoxication, transformation and wine.

Edge lettering

Designer