5 euro - The Twelve Apostles: Saint Bartholomew

The 10 euro silver coin is dedicated this year to the Apostle Bartholomew. Originally from Cana in Galilee, tradition tells of his life as a missionary in the Middle East. According to the few reports that have come down about him, he was flayed alive and beheaded around the middle of the 1st century in Armenia. On the reverse side of the coin, our artist Antonella Napolione depicts the Apostle with his hands folded and looking downwards where next to the Gospel there is a knife symbolising his martyrdom. On the left of the coin, skin with features of his suffering face are depicted.