So I picked up a 1973 Vatican City mint set from the flea market for $2 and this Pope John Paul II medal was in the spot of the 1000 lira coin. I could not find anything out about this medal except some similar (without the Mother Mary and baby Jesus but a different design) selling on eBay. It is 13.7 g and 28.6 MM diameter. There appears to be a hallmark and Italy near the rim. Is this silver? Any information is appreciated. Thanks.
Privately made souvenir medal with several different reverses mated to the same obverse type. In this case the Mary on the reverse is "Our Lady of Czestochowa" and refers to J P II's Polish heritage. Sellers make up "sets" of various inexpensive Vatican coins for sale to tourists. The 1973/Anno XI set in the red card contained a silver L 500 and I've seen this sort of substitution before. There's not a good reference for these but I think they are generally silver plated, especially since there's no fineness mark.
Most probably so. Then again, here is one where the seller says it is a silver ("Materiale: argento") medal ... Christian
I'm no expert in this category, but all of the Vatican issued coinage I've seen or owned has been very nicely detailed. This coin is rather crude by comparison, which leads me to believe it's a souvenir token . . . but I could be wrong!
It is a souvenir and not anything like the coinage of the Vatican City for sure. It is smaller diameter, but thicker and weighs more than a silver half dollar. Non magnetic so probably plated as mention above I can not match the mark to any Italian silver hallmark. Thanks for the insights!
In 1973, Pope was Paul VI. How could be possible that an official coin set of that year includes a medal with JPII? petronius
It's not. Check the first post again. The silver L 500 coin originally in that slot has been replaced with a token. If you google "1973 vatican coins" you can see the original.
Don't know why that "Attached Files" window is in my post above. I didn't attach anything. The site must have had a hiccup.
