This commemorative collection is reminiscent of the “double canonization” of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.
They are the first popes, after the canonization of Pope Pius X in 1954, to ascend to the circle of saints.
Both 100 Lire coins in this history-charged set were issued in the years where both popes were each the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
On one coin, you can see the portrait of Pope John XXIII, the pope who mediated between Moscow and Washington in the time of the Cuba crisis.
The other shows the image of the very popular and influential Pope John Paul II, who helped to overcome the separation between east and west.
