5 Cent

Vatican copper 5 centesimi were issued under the provisions of the 1929 Lateran Treaty, which ended nearly six decades of the "Roman Question" — the territorial standoff between the Holy See and the Italian state following the 1870 seizure of Rome. The treaty granted the Vatican formal sovereignty and, critically, the right to issue its own coinage, making these small copper pieces among the first physical expressions of that restored independence.

Mintage was contracted to the Italian state mint in Rome, a practical arrangement that has continued across successive pontificates.