Very few Vatican items are silver. They're usually some sort of pot metal that looks a lot like silver. The few I've seen that are silver were all marked on the edge and all sterling. The value tends to be nominal but if you find a collector who needs it it could bring a premium.
Most silver items are marked STERLING, .999, .925, etc. But most art, sports, religious souvenir items will bring a few dollars on eBay even if not precious metals. Don't list them under medals, but rather under another category, such as religious items.
Thank you for the answer! Thank you for the answer! I payed 10 dollars for it thinking it was silver. Hope to get my money back.
The medal is not necessarily from the Vatican. At least on VA coins the name of that pope is spelled IOANNES - here it has an extra H. By the way, roughly between the four and five o'clock position there is some text (close to the edge) that I cannot read. If that is a three digit figure (see Frankcoins.com's reply), that could be the silver content. But it rather looks like designer's initials to me. Christian
