After the death or resignation of a pope, the Holy See enters a period of sede vacante. During this period, the coat of change; instead of the papal tiara over the keys, the tiara is replaced with the umbraculum or ombrellino in Italian. This symbolizes both the lack of a Pope and also the governance of the Camerlengo over the temporalities of the Holy See. As further indication, the Camerlengo ornaments his arms with this symbol during this period, which he subsequently removes once a pope is elected. The arms of the Camerlengo appear on commemorative Vatican euro coins minted during this period, which are legal tender in all Eurozone member states.
The last time this happened was in 2005, when Pope John Paul II passed away and Vatican was allowed to issue a Sede Vacante standard euro coin set. However, this Is not possible today as the Eurozone rules changed in order to avoid countries changing their standard coins too often. According to the new rules, Vatican (and other countries) are only allowed to issue an extra 2 euro commemorative coin to mark the event.
The new coin bears the emblem of the Cardinal camerlengo with the pavilion of the Apostolic Camera and the phrase "Sede Vacante 2013". Issue date: 3 June 2013 |
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Diameter - 25.75mm
Thickness - 2.2mm
Weight - 8.5gr
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| Combination of the number 2 and ** repeated six times |