The Istituto Poligrafico E Zecca Della Stato, fortunately known by its acronym IPZS, is responsible for the issuance of money in Italy, and that includes some superb commemoratives. Drawing on Italy’s deep, fascinating art and history, the mint has struck some beautiful designs in recent years. This new release is from their Italy as Art series, each of which showcases one of this ancient countries historical towns, previous coins featuring such subjects as Liguria, Santa Chiari and Atri. The 2015 coin depicts the town of Perugia, in Umbria.

Perugia is the capital of the central Italian province of Perugia in the region of Umbria and sits on the River Tiber around 164 kilometres north of Rome. Perugia is a well-known cultural and artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve near Perugia. He decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes; eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia and one fresco.

The coin is a clean struck affair with each side depicting a piece of a 15th century fresco and looks very nicely done. This 5 Euro denominated coin weighs in at 18g of sterling silver and has a mintage of just 4,000 pieces, quite low in comparison to other European Mints like the Monnaie de Paris and the Muenze Osterreich. Available now for €50.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Perugia, the ancient and charming Etruscan city wedged in the evocative Umbrian landscape, with its historical university and extraordinary architectures is one of the artistic and cultural excellences of our Country. The Medieval and Renaissance history of Perugia is still clearly perceptible in its intact, wonderful old town, with the magnifient mullioned windows of the Palazzo dei Priori and the ogival arches of the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo.

OBVERSE: view of Perugia, from a detail of the fresco First translation of the body of St. Herculanus from the place of his fist burial to the church of St. Peter painted by Benedetto Bonfili (information from ca. 1445-1496) for the Chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori in Perugia, now part of the National Gallery of Umbria; on the right, name of the designer “U. PERNAZZA”; around, inscription “REPUBBLICA ITALIANA”

REVERSE: detail from the fresco reproducing the Sibyls painted by Perugino (ca. 1450-1523) for the Sala delle Udienze of the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia; in exergue, the letter “R” identifying the Mint of Rome, and the value “5 EURO”; around, arch-shaped inscription “ITALIA DELLE ARTI PERUGIA”; on the right, the year of the coin’s issue “2015”.