Vatican · 150th birthday of Guglielmo Marconi

Issue date12 Nov 2024

Total mintage85,900

EU maximum82,900

Editions3

Edge lettering2 ★ × 6, alternately upright/inverted

InscriptionGUGLIELMO MARCONI / 1874 / 2024 / CITTÀ DEL VATICANO / L. PANCOTTO / R

DesignerLoredana Pancotto

mintInstituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato, Roma

Issue occasion

The commemorative coin honours the 150th birthday of Guglielmo Marconi. The design features his portrait in the centre, flanked by Pope Pius XII on the left and Pope Pius XI on the right. It is complemented by the inscription “GUGLIELMO MARCONI”, the years “1874” and “2024”, and “CITTÀ DEL VATICANO”.

The design

The coin design shows the portrait of Marconi (in the center), as well as Pope Pius XI (on the right) and his successor, Pope Pius XII (on the left). In the upper right, the inscription “GUGLIELMO MARCONI” is arranged in a semicircle, with the years “1874” and “2024” below it. The inscription “CITTÀ DEL VATICANO” and the name of the artist, “L. PANCOTTO” (Loredana Pancotto), appear in the lower section of the coin. The mint mark “R” can be seen on the left.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian physicist, inventor and entrepreneur who advanced wireless telegraphy both technically and economically. From the 1890s onwards, he experimented with the transmission of electromagnetic signals over greater distances. In 1901, he succeeded in receiving a wirelessly transmitted signal across the Atlantic. This demonstrated that radio connections were possible beyond the horizon. His work laid the foundation for later broadcasting and mobile maritime radio. In 1909, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with the German physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun.

Marconi’s special connection with the Vatican arose after the founding of Vatican City (Vatikanstadt) through the Lateran Treaties (Lateranverträge) of 1929. Pope Pius XI commissioned him to establish a Vatican radio station. Marconi planned the technical installation and presented it personally. In February 1931, Radio Vatican (Radio Vatikan) began broadcasting. At the opening, Marconi announced the first radio address by a pope; Pius XI addressed listeners in Latin beyond the borders of the small papal state.

Radio technology gave the Holy See (Heiliger Stuhl) a new means of broadcasting papal addresses and church news worldwide. Under Pius XII, who had previously worked closely with Pius XI as Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, Radio Vatican gained further importance. During the Second World War, the station broadcast not only papal messages but also information about missing persons, prisoners and displaced persons.

Marconi’s connection with both popes thus points not only to his general role in the history of radio technology. Above all, it recalls the establishment of Vatican broadcasting and its use in the following years. The round anniversary gave the Vatican an opportunity to honour an inventor whose work was directly connected with its own communications history.