Worldwide collection
BrunoCoins
New information to me. Thank you. I'm still wondering if Kosovo or Montenegro will ever get a pass like Andorra to issue their own Euro coins for circulation. The currency situation in Kosovo alone is dire with alot of fake 2 Euro coins in the market and people refusing to accept most 2 Euros in fear that they're counterfeits. Makes sense that only a €2 could be possibly issued as a collectors item not intended for circulation in the Sede Vacante case. Maybe one day we'll see all Vatican Euro coins intended for circulation but it's wishful thinking. The only reason the 50c circulates is due to some law that so much of the Euros produced have to be for circulation. Even if all Vatican coins were in circulation many would never leave the bank or post office and end up on Ebay anyway unless produced in absurd quantities.
That’s sad Kosovo should have the right to have their own coin designs.
That’s new to me the law about 50 Cent coins as Germany ceased minting 50 Cent coins from 2004 until 2022 and France did until 2018-19 I think.
The Vatican excluding the 50 Cent after 2010 did mint 1,2,5,10,20,50 (pre 2010), and Euro coins for circulation under John Paul II and Benedict XVI as well as €2 coins under JPII but the mintage for all was around 6,000 hence I think 99.9% of them would be in collectors hands.
Like all countries that joined the Euro, starter kits were distributed to banks and businesses so a minuscule amount (6k) of 2002 Vatican coins were released into circulation.
And still, these coins could probably actually get into everyday circulation from time to time and even “travel” quite far within the eurozone. Just as a curiosity, I recall this Vatican 50 cent 2013 which should have been found in a vending machine in Slovakia (post from 7th February 2021).
https://www.sberatel.com/diskuse/sberatel/euromince-10853?page=17&per-page=10
As for Montenegro and Kosovo, I think the situation is different from Vatican, Andorra or Monaco. Really small European states outside the EU like these have been traditionally connected to their bigger neighbour (or more of them) and with the exception of Andorra, they all oficially accepted euro at the same time as their “big brothers,” which are also in charge of minting these coins, if I'm not mistaken. Neither Montenegro nor Kosovo has any such neighbour which would be a member of the eurozone. That said, euro coins for Montenegro could be probably minted in Italy or Germany (no big enough mint in the vicinity I think), but it would look a bit strange politically if Montenegro had its own euros while the EU members in the region (mainly Romania) would not. And to be honest, there are also economical differences, which probably block the official acceptance of euro circulation in Montenegro and Kosovo from the part of the EU.
And returning to the original topic, I agree with all which has been written here. The Pope Francis was really an extraordinary man, may he rest in peace.
