Pope John Paul II Vatican City 1979 Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals

Three official Vatican 1979 medals, commemorating Pope John Paul II's journey to Poland in 1979. All measure 40mm in diameter and are struck in gold, silver, and bronze. The gold medal is 40.61 grams of .917 gold, the silver medal is 27g of .986 silver, and the bronze medal is 26.5g of an unknown bronze content. All uncirculated.

The obverse is a profile of John Paul II, with the inscription: "OJCIEC SWIETY JAN PAWEL II" (Holy Father John Paul II). On the reverse is a composite of Our Lady of Czestochowa with a child in her arm in the center, with St. Adalbert on the left and St. Stanislaus on the right. The inscription reads: "PIELGRZYMKA DO POLSKI 1979 -- GNIEZNO, CZESTOCHOWA, KRAKOW" (Pilgrimage to Poland 1979. Gniezno (St. Adalbert); Czestochowa (Our Lady's Sanctuary); Krakow (St. Stanislaus). These medals represent the first time a Vatican medal was struck in a language other than Latin. Uncirculated condition, with some light tarnishing to the silver medal. All three are housed in the original red leather case, measuring 6" x 4.75". We have not been able to locate any other complete set of medals, and have only been able to find one other example of the gold medal, which sold in 2006 for twice the value of gold that year!

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) was born in Poland and was the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century. He traveled to Poland in June 1979, in what would be the first papal trip to Poland, and was met by overjoyed and enthusiastic crowds. His visit resulted in the formation of the Solidarity movement the following year, which helped bring justice, human rights, and freedom to the troubled nation.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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