The Vatican devoted a two-euro coin to a poet who placed several popes in his «Inferno» — and yet the Church has long claimed Dante Alighieri as its own. This 2021 commemorative €2 marks 700 years since his death: Dante died in Ravenna in 1321, never having returned from exile.

The national side shows a portrait of the poet with the Palazzo Vecchio beside him, the emblem of Florence, the city that banished Dante in 1302. Below are his name «Dante» and the dates «1321 – 2021»; the arc reads «CITTA’ DEL VATICANO», next to the Rome mint mark «R» and the artist’s signature «P. DANIELE». The design is by Patrizio Daniele, engraved by Annalisa Masini.

The coin continues a long papal tradition. For the 600th anniversary of the poet’s death in 1921, Benedict XV dedicated the encyclical «In praeclara summorum» to him. In 1965 Paul VI donated a gold cross for Dante’s tomb in Ravenna and a gold laurel wreath for the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence. And on 25 March 2021 Francis issued the apostolic letter «Candor lucis aeternae» («Splendour of Light Eternal») on the poet’s legacy.

According to the European Central Bank, the issuing volume is just 86,000 coins, a tiny figure even by the standards of commemorative €2 coins. The Vatican released a second €2 commemorative the same year, for the 450th anniversary of Caravaggio’s birth, so the Dante coin forms a natural pair for a 2021 date run. For a literature-themed collection it is one of the most striking pieces.

Condition UNC: the coin has never circulated, shows no wear and keeps its original mint lustre. In this state the fine profile of the poet and the outline of the Florentine palace read in full detail.

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