Minting and Printing

This week saw the issue of the first commemorative stamps for 2011 by the Vatican's Philatelic Office. We use this occasion to shine the spotlight on the long and fascinating history of papal coinage and in more recent times Vatican coins and stamps and examine some of the most famous examples from this rich heritage with the help of two leading experts in this field.

Peter Jencius is a U.S. numismatist who specializes in Vatican coins and also acts as a dealer for the tiny state's stamps. He talks about how these stamp issues are always very popular with collectors: "There's a high level of interest for each new issue ... I think the Vatican chooses its themes and its designs very carefully."

Allen Berman is an expert in medieval and papal coins and author of two books on the subject: "Papal Coins" and "Papal Numismatic History." He praises the high level of artistic design on papal coins and talks about one of his favourites: "One of the most inspiring coins" is a copper coins from the 1790's... "it depicts St. Peter looking over his shoulder ... with a concerned expression." Berman says this particular coin vividly shows "what it was like to be the leader of a church in the first century that was illegal " .. and who risked death for evangelising. For his part, Jencius says one his favourite designs is on a small silver coin dating from the reign of Pope Pius XI and XII that "shows St. Peter in a boat amidst a storm."

Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: