Commemorative Medals of Vatican
In 2001, Supreme Pontiff John Paul II came on a historic visit to Kazakhstan. The pontiff or pontifex means “leading” in the Latin language, he is the head of the Catholic Church, a high priest, a pope. As a souvenir from the Vatican, the Pontiff presented the with a triptych – papal anniversary medals (created for the 20th anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II), they became the property of the museum fund.
Attributive description of medals
The first issue of papal medals (Medaglie Papali) began in the 15th century; tabletop commemorative medals of the Vatican are still being issued.
The medals are identical, the diameter of the medals is 45 mm. The medals contain:
- 917 gold (22 carats), product weight 60 g;
- 986 sterling silver, product weight 40.4 g;
- Jewelry bronze, product weight 40.4 g.
The hallmarks of gold and silver on papal medals differ from the hallmarks existing in the domestic metric system. The 917th hallmark of a gold-containing alloy corresponds to 22 carats. This standard of gold is represented in the karat system of European countries and in the USA.
On the front side of the medal, the obverse, there is an image of John Paul II, the 264th pope of the Catholic Church. On the field of the medal there are the inscriptions ANNO XX, indicating 1998, the twentieth year of the pope’s reign.
On the reverse side of the medal there is a relief image of a dove, a laurel branch, four crosses and rays of light, as well as the Latin inscription Veni spiritus sancte.
On the edge of the papal medals there is an indented inscription: e civitate vaticana (“from the city of the Vatican”), and the numbers 011/900 (No. 11, circulation – 900 copies).
The Papal Jubilee Medals were produced in 1998 at the Italian Mint (L’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato).
On the case there is a monogram of the Italian mint, and the papal coat of arms represents a symbol of the pontificate.
The author of the medal composition is the famous Czech sculptor Otmar Oliva, known for his work on the decoration of the Redemptoris Mater chapel. Otmar Oliva was born on the 19th of February, 1952 in the Czech Republic, where he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.