Vatican euro coins another subject. In addition, in 2014 the Vatican issued commemorative €20 and €50 coins honoring Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II respectively. Both popes were canonized in April 2014. Vatican euro coins Vatican euro coins are issued by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State and minted by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), in Rome, Italy. The euro is the official currency of the Vatican City, although the Vatican is not a member of the Eurozone or the European Union. For images of the common side and a detailed description of the coins,
Prisoner in the Vatican Prisoner in the Vatican A prisoner in the Vatican or prisoner of the Vatican (; ) is how Pope Pius IX was described following the capture of Rome by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy on 20 September 1870. Part of the process of Italian unification, the city's capture ended the millennial temporal rule of the popes over central Italy and allowed Rome to be designated the capital of the new nation. The appellation is also applied to Pius's successors through Pope Pius XI. As nationalism swept the Italian Peninsula in the 19th century, efforts to unify Italy