2011 Italy €2 Coin Issue "Unification 150 Years"

• Mint: Italian Mint
• Denomination: €2
• Quality: UNC/BU
• Limit: 10 mill/20,000
• Alloy: Base Metal
• Diameter: 25.75 mm
• Weight: 8.5 grams
• Design:
• UNC in baggie/BU in folder

Additional Information

Please click here for the official web page in English!

Before 1861, Italy was a patchwork of city-states and regions ruled by the pope or foreign monarchs. The Austrian statesman Metternich famously described Italy as a "mere geographical expression," convinced it could never achieve nationhood. Historians say unification was the work of a small intellectual elite backed by the Kingdom of Piedmont, and its theme music was written by Giuseppe Verdi.

150 years ago, 80 percent of the population was illiterate, and unification was accompanied by civil wars in the south with tens of thousands of victims. The divide between the wealthy north and the poor south is still strongly felt, and local and regional loyalties have prevailed over national sentiment.

The obverse shows three Italian flags - tricolores - one for each half century of unification.