Italy: World Cup ‘82 victory and famed footballer Paolo Rossi remembered on new silver and colour coin

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The Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) has issued new Brilliant Uncirculated with colour silver coins which commemorate both the country’s national past time and one of its all-time heroes. The year 2022 marks the fortieth anniversary of Italy’s victory in the World Cup football championships. The coin also honours one of the country’s most popular and beloved football stars, Paolo Rossi (1956–2020), who was instrumental in the victory. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time, in 2004 Rossi was named as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA’s 100th-anniversary celebration. In the same year, Rossi placed twelfth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.

The final tournament was held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the Spanish capital of Madrid on the 11th July and the two teams who would be facing off were Italy and West Germany. It was Rossi who scored Italy’s three goals, winning the match 3 — 1 which accorded his team their third World Cup title, the first since 1938. With an astonishing six goals in total during the World Cup, Rossi received the tournament’s Máximo Goleador award, the “Golden Boot,” as the top scorer of the tournament, as well as the Golden Ball Award for the best player of the tournament. Rossi was also awarded the 1982 Ballon d’Or as the European Footballer of the Year for his performance and to date, he remains the only player in history to win these four awards in a single year. Sadly, he died on the 9th December 2020, at the age of 64 and was survived by his second wife, Federica, and three children. Rossi’s funeral took place in Vicenza and was attended by thousands who openly mourned the death of their hero.

Designed by artist Antonio Vecchio, the obverse side depicts as its central motif a characteristic soccer ball just as it hits the goal net. Above the frame of the goal is the text in a horizontal direction REPUBBLICA along with 1982 ITALIA CAMPIONE DEL MUNDO and the text to the right side in a vertical direction ITALIANA. In the right upper corner are 3 five-pointed stars, one in green, white, and red — the country’s national colours. The reverse side depicts Paolo Rossi, shown in one of the most representative gestures of victory, his arms above him in the excitement of scoring another goal. The image on the coin is based on an actual photograph of Rossi celebrating a goal at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. In the background is a terrestrial globe representing the World Cup and below is his name PAOLO ROSSI. To the left is the denomination 5 EURO and to the right are both the mintmark R denoting Rome and the year of issue 2022. Above and below the design are twenty-two 5-pointed stars representative of the players which made up the Italian national team for the World Cup.

Denom.	Metal	Weight	Dimensions	Quality	Mintage Limit
Five euro	.925 Silver	18 g	35 x 26.3 mm	Brilliant Unc. with applied colour	6,000

Each rectangular coin is specially encapsulated and presented in a custom case designed in the shape and artwork of a soccer ball, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. For additional information about the 2022 range of Italian collector coins, please click here.

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