This sterling silver coin features a double image of two of the most
popular popes in recent history - Pope John Paul II and John XXIII. The design uses selective gold leaf to create
halos above their heads. For the first
time in the history of the Catholic Church, these two popes were canonized on
the same day. Pope Francis sainted his
two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II, (who remain popular even today),
at a public mass held at St. Peter's square in Rome in April of 2014.
The
coin weighs about two thirds of an ounce of sterling silver, and has a legal
tender value of 1000 shillings in Tanzania.
This is one of the lowest mintage official legal tender coins ever
minted to feature these religious leaders, with a mintage of just 1,000 coins.
Pope
John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) was elected Pope by the Cardinals in
1978. In his 25+ years as Pope, he visited 129 countries and authored 14 encyclicals.
He gave more than 20,000 speeches, met with over 1,500 leaders and appointed
231 Cardinals.
Pope
John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli) held office between 1958 and
1963. To this day, Italians call him 'il Papa buono' - the good Pope. As the initiator
of the Second Vatican Council, he took on the task of modernizing the Catholic
Church.