# Inscription on Pope John Paul II coin **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136 "2020-06-06T01:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/1 "2020-06-06T01:53:02Z")
I’m looking at the coin [here](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces13021.html)- it is, I guess, a 100 Lire coin with the writing around the outside edge: IOANNES PAVLVS II P.M. A.N. XXI . MXMXCIX The center of the coin pictures John Paul II. A few questions: 1. Is IOANNES PAVLVS his name in Greek? Why in Greek instead of in Italian, since it’s an Italian coin, I assume? 2. What do P.M. and A.N. stand for? 3. What does XXI stand for? (I know it’s 21; what is its relevance on this coin?) I know the last part is 1999, which appears to be the year the coin was minted. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/2 "2020-06-06T02:05:01Z")
I guess PM is Pontifex Maximus? ---
**Author:** ![Toledo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Toledo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toledo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/3 "2020-06-06T02:44:16Z")
It’s in Latin, the official Language of the Vatican. A.N. is anno numeris, essentially 21 years. Yes, yearofglad, P.M. is Pontifex Maximus, one of the Pope’s titles. It’s actually a Vatican coin, not Italian. But the Vatican uses Italian currency. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/4 "2020-06-06T03:26:11Z")
And it’s “anno numeris 21” because it is minted “in the 21st year of his mandate”. This used to be how years were counted in Rome (and many other areas) before the invention of “the Christian era”; that those years weren’t necessarily full natural years (somebody’s 10th year could also be the 1st year of his successor, and a natural year might even see three rulers) is one of the reasons the placement of year 1 DC was off by a handful of years. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/5 "2020-06-06T05:03:43Z")
Thanks both - I thought it was Latin, first, but then for some bizarre reason ruled that out. And thanks for the explanation of A.N. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/6 "2020-06-06T12:53:40Z")
Just the fact that you were able to type it out on your keyboard is proof that it wasn’t Greek. > [@](#): > > Quoth **Toledo Jim** : > > It’s actually a Vatican coin, not Italian. But the Vatican uses Italian currency. I was in Ireland in 2003 (after the introduction of the Euro). We found one or two Vatican coins among our loose change. The overall design of the coins and bills, and the reverse (tails) side showing a map of Europe, were the same for all countries, but every country gets to decide on its own what they want on the obverse (heads). Countries that still have monarchs (including Vatican City) mostly go with a portrait of their monarch, while Ireland, very proud not to have a monarch, used a harp, the national symbol. IIRC, Germany and France use various prominent historical figures. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/7 "2020-06-06T15:42:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > We found one or two Vatican coins among our loose change. Interesting. Vatican City seems to be one of four countries allowed to mint their own euro coins, even though they are not part of the European Union. The others are Monaco, San Marino, and Andorra. (Before the adoption of the euro, Andorra did not have an official currency, but just used the Spanish peseta and French franc.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/8 "2020-06-06T15:51:07Z")
There are about a dozen different European international coalitions, each with slightly different membership. The countries you mention are part of the Eurozone but not the EU, while the UK before Brexit was the reverse. Then there’s the Schengen area, the coalitions responsible for the ESA and CERN, and several others that I don’t know the details of. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/9 "2020-06-06T16:20:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The countries you mention are part of the Eurozone but not the EU, while the UK before Brexit was the reverse. This is something of a nitpick, but the four countries I mentioned are not part of the Eurozone, but [use the euro through monetary agreements with the EU.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_euro_coins#/media/File:Eurozone_participation.svg) Montenegro and Kosovo use the euro unilaterally, without an agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/10 "2020-06-06T18:21:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And it’s “anno numeris 21” because it is minted “in the 21st year of his mandate”. This used to be how years were counted in Rome (and many other areas) before the invention of “the Christian era”; I thought Rome used [A.U.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_urbe_condita) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/11 "2020-06-06T18:47:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I thought Rome used [A.U.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_urbe_condita) Not really. The very article you linked to says > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Usage of the term was more common during the Renaissance, when editors sometimes added AUC to Roman manuscripts they published, giving the false impression that the convention was commonly used in antiquity. In reality, the dominant method of identifying years in Roman times was to name the two consuls who held office that year. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inscription-on-pope-john-paul-ii-coin/855136/12 "2020-06-06T19:46:03Z")
Fair enough.