The Vatican City has confirmed that a 2015 commemorative €2 coin will be issued for the VIII World Meeting of Families.

The gathering, sponsored by the Holy See and held every three years, is scheduled for Sept. 22 to 25 in Philadelphia. Pope Francis is slated to visit on Sept. 26 and 27 following the event. 

The obverse design depicts two families “which ideally embrace the whole Earth,” according to the Aug. 4 announcement in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The date of issue, 2015, appears with the artist name, C. PRINCIPE.The mint mark R appears on the arm of one family member at the right. The design is surrounded by the inscription translating to “The VIII World Meeting of Families,”  from the left to the right in semi-circle and the name of the issuing country below. 

Though intended as a circulating commemorative coin, the Vatican City has come under fire in recent years for issuing euro coins only for sale to collectors.

The European Commission even passed new regulations mandating that all eurozone members issue at least some token amount of coins for circulation. The Vatican City answered that mandate by issuing 50-cent coins into circulation, but it is unclear whether or if any other denominations have been issued at face value since then.

Generally, Proof and Brilliant Uncirculated collector versions of the Vatican’s €2 coin are made available for a premium.

The ringed-bimetallic €2 coin has a copper-nickel core and copper-aluminum-nickel ring.

The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag. The common reverse shows a map of the European Union.

A total of 122,000 coins are scheduled to be released in October.

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