Ireland, 10P 1998 BU

Before Ireland joined the Euro, they used their own coinage. But because the population of Ireland is so low, the mintages of their coins also tended to be rather low. Here we present a Irish pre Euro coin, the 20P in Brilliant Uncirculated condition and you don’t see many this nice. Supplies are of course very limited and these are in bright and beautiful condition.

Citta del Vaticano, or Vatican City, issued its own coins up until 2002 when it adopted the Euro. These Aluminium 2 Lire coins (KM.50) were issued in the name of Pope Pius XII in 1958 and were the last of their type issued since he died in October 1958. The coins are low mintage with only 30,000 being struck. They have the crowned shield on the obverse and on the reverse the figure of Fortitude standing with a lion at his feet. Even better, they come in Brilliant Uncirculated condition and are now nearly 65 years old and rather difficult to find.

The last issue, Brilliant Uncirculated Obverse: Irish harp with the country name to the left and the date to the right Reverse: Decorative initial "O" resembling a bird, out of the "Book of Kells" and the denomination below