Obverse. Photo © Libra Media & Services
  • 2 Euro 2024, Vatican City, Pope Francis, 150th Anniversary of Birth of Guglielmo Marconi
  • 2 Euro 2024, Vatican City, Pope Francis, 150th Anniversary of Birth of Guglielmo Marconi
Description

Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi (1874–1937) was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi being credited as the inventor of radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy".

Obverse

Depicts Guglielmo Marconi's portrait at the center, accompanied by Pope Pius XI on the right and his successor, Pope Pius XII, on the left, with radio waves depicted in front of the three figures. "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" is inscribed along the upper edge, with the years "1874" and "2024" below it. The bottom edge shows the issuing country "CITTÀ DEL VATICANO" and credits the coin designer. The mint mark "R" appears on the left side, and the outer ring displays the 12 stars of the European flag.

Designer: Loredana Pancotto

GUGLIELMO MARCONI
R
1874
1924
• CITTÀ DEL VATICANO •
L. PANCOTTO

Reverse

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

2 EURO
LL

Edge

The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted

2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★

Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Nickel Brass
Center Cupronickel
Weight 8.5 g
Diameter 25.75 mm
Thickness 2.25 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Italian State Mint and Polygraphic Institute (IPZS)

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