by Björn Schöpe
October 17, 2013 – A rather sore error of the Vatican may raise hopes of collectors. Pope Francis’s very first medal issue was just to be sold when someone became aware of a misspelling. Instead of ‘Jesus’ the Latin legend said ‘Lesus.’ No one else had noted this mistake before. The executive mint, the Italian State Mint, rejected any responsibility since they received the finished template.
According to a statement of the Vatican press office four items were sold already and they are expected to raise considerably in value. Let’s see when they appear on Ebay or in another auction and how much they will be sold for. The withdrawn pieces will be melted down and re-coined. However, this second edition will probably be much less particular than the four sold rarities.
Many media reported on that mistake like The Daily Mail …
… the BBC …
… and The Independent.
And please tell the journalist of the Independent the difference between a commemorative coin and a medal!