2 euro Italy 2010, 200th anniversary of birth of Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour

2 Euro Commemorative Coins Italy 2010 Camillo Benso





Italian commemorative 2 euro coins - 200th anniversary of Cavour's birth


Commemorative 2 euro coins from Italy
The coin commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810-1861), a key figure in the Italian unification and founder of the Italian Liberal Party and the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. It features Cavour's portrait executed by Francesco Hayez in 1864.

Description: The inner part of the coin shows a detail of the portrait of the Italian statesman in the centre, the inscriptions CAVOUR and RI on the left, and the mint mark, the dates 1810 and 2010 and the initials of the artist Claudia Momoni (C.M.) on the right. The twelve stars of the European Union surround the design on the outer ring of the coin.



Reverse: left from the coin centre face value: 2, on the right inscription: EURO; in the background of the inscription a map of Europe; in the background of the map vertically six parallel lines ending on both sides with five-pointed stars (the reverse is common for all euro coins)

Issuing volume: 4 million coins
Date of issue:   3 March 2010
Face value:       2 euro
Diameter:         25.75 mm
Thickness:        2.2 mm
Weight:             8.5 gr
Composition: BiAlloy (Nk/Ng), ring Cupronickel (75% copper - 25% nickel clad on nickel core), center Nickel brass
Design: Claudia Momoni is credited as the engraver for the Italian 2010 €2 Euro Commemorative coin.
Designer / Engraver Inscriptions: 'C.M.' Initials of the engraver:
€2 Edge Inscription: The Italian €2 coin edge inscription is '2', followed by one star, repeated six times alternately upright and inverted:
Mint Location: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) (State Printing Office and Mint), in Rome, Italy.
Mint Marks: Mintmark of the Rome mint: the letter 'R'.
Located on the right side, inner circle, between the 1 and 2 o'clock stars.
National Identification: Symbol: Stylized 'RI'; Repubblica Italiana (Republic of Italy).

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, of Isolabella and of Leri (August 10, 1810 – June 6, 1861), generally known as Cavour (Italian: [kaˈvur]) was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification. He was the founder of the original Liberal Party and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, a position he maintained (except for a six-month resignation) throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as Italy's first Prime Minister; he died after only three months in office, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome as part of the new Italian nation.

Cavour put forth several economic reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, and founded the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. After being elected to the Chamber of Deputies, he quickly rose in rank through the Piedmontese government, coming to dominate the Chamber of Deputies through a union of left-center and right-center politicians. After a large rail system expansion program, Cavour became prime minister in 1852. As prime minister, Cavour successfully negotiated Piedmont's way through the Crimean War, Second Italian War of Independence, and Garibaldi's expeditions, managing to maneuver Piedmont diplomatically to become a new great power in Europe, controlling a nearly united Italy that was five times as large as Piedmont had been before he came to power.