2020-07-03 Fri

Italian Mint issued a special Gold Coin celebrating Marcus Aurelius – the Roman emperor who lived in the second century AD. One of the famous “Five Good Emperors”, Marcus Aurelius was a lover of Greek philosophy and culture, and his war undertakings are carved for time immemorial on the Antonine column in Rome. The new gold coin, belonging to the Roman Emperors Series, has a face value of 10 Euros. It was created by artist and engraver Uliana Pernazza and was struck at the State Mint.

On the obverse is a detail of the bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, facing right that is taken from a marble work kept at the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus in Selcuk, Turkey. The legend “ITALIAN REPUBLIC” also appears on the obverse and at the bottom left the name of “U. PERNAZZA” is inscribed.

On the reverse is a detail of the important equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was transferred to the Capitoline Museums in Rome from its original placement in the Piazza del Campidoglio. In the left-field are the name “MRCVS AVRELIVS” and, vertically, the year of issue “2020”; above the central motif is the value “EURO 10”; on the right is the mint mark “R”, identification of the Mint of Rome.

Image Courtesy: coinweek.com