As fake as a 5 euro coin, they say. But this time the 5 euro coin really exists, and is a collector's item minted by the State Mint and Polygraphic Institute to pay homage to a champion of Made in Italy such as Neapolitan pizza. The nice coin, created by the artist Maria Carmela Colaneri, is in fact part of the series "Italian food and wine culture - Pizza and mozzarella" of the 2020 Numismatic Collection. Issued at the end of April in a limited edition of 8.000 pieces, at a price of 25 euros each , this “5 euro daisy” has already sold out: sul dedicated portal upon sale, strictly online due to the coronavirus, the product is out of stock.
Made of cupronickel metal, with a diameter of 26,95 mm and a weight of 10,25 grams (almost 2 grams more than a normal 2 euro coin), the original collectible coin depicts a typical Neapolitan pizza margherita on the front side , depicted in color, complete with Pulcinella and the Gulf of Naples in the background, while on the back the ingredients of the pizza are collected in a cornucopia (tomatoes in particular), one of the best-known Italian gastronomic products in the world (it is no coincidence that the design is accompanied by the inscription “Sapori d'Italia”). The particular composition depicts the mouth of an oven and a detail of the bas-relief of the Procession of Bacchus (from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples).
It should be remembered here, to enrich the celebration, that the Neapolitan pizza, or to be more precise “theart of the Neapolitan pizza maker” was in 2017 declared by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity. Since 2010 this local (and let's face it, inimitable) delight has been officially recognized as a guaranteed traditional specialty of the European Union. Its history is now a hundred years old: the first news about Neapolitan pizza dates back to the period from 1715 to 1725.
