What Is The Currency Of The Vatican City?

The Vatican City actually has its own coins - the Vatican Euro. This has been the currency since January 1, 1999. Prior to this the currency was the Vatican Lira. This was equivalent to the Italian Lira at the time. The Vatican City had an agreement with the Italian government, whereby Italian Lira were welcomed in the Vatican City and vice versa.

The Vatican City does not issue any bank notes, only Euro coins. A special agreement exists with the European Union council regarding the amount of coins that the Vatican City may issue. This allows the Vatican City to produce more than the normal quota of Euro coins during a year when there is a change in the papacy.

Obviously, when a new pope is installed, the coinage needs to reflect this change. As this happens more frequently than in countries where there is a monarchy, the agreement was reached to allow the increase in coin production.