The International Association of Professional Numismatist’s 75th Anniversary Medal charmed admirers when it was first revealed at IAPN’s Congress held in Rome, Italy, on May 21, 2026. The medal garnered more praise when it was exhibited along with its engraver’s plaster casts at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from July 26-28,, 2026.
Chiara Principe (https://www.chiaraprincipecoindesign.com/), an independent artist who has created coins and medals for institutions and countries including Luxembourg, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican, designed the medal. She has described her artistic vision as follows:
Creating the official medal of this congress was an exciting challenge that allowed me to look at the history and culture associated with my work with different eyes. It might have seemed like a classic medal to commemorate an event and an anniversary, but in reality there was an even more important subtheme that asked to be celebrated: the love of numismatics. The passion which IAPN has promoted and guarded for a good 75 years now. I have thus interpreted the work primarily as a great tribute to this passion, on which the entire work of the association revolves, but also as a tribute to Italian art, the cradle of medals, and in particular to the city of Rome, which hosted the 74th IAPN congress.
As realized in her finished medal, Numismatics is personified on the obverse as a female figure crowned with a laurel wreath decorated with coins. The goddess contemplates a Greek gold stater of Alexander the Great that also figures in the Association’s logo. Radiating behind her is the celebrated star-shaped design of Michelangelo’s pavement on Rome’s Capitoline Hill. Other design elements reference the City of Rome, the host of IAPN’s 75th Anniversary Congress. They include the outline of the Vatican dome and the famous Wolf and Twins. The obverse legend in English references the 75th Anniversary and the associated dates of 1951-2026.
On the reverse, the Capitoline Wolf takes center stage, with an outline of the Coliseum and Roman Forum in the distance supported by ancient paving stones. Above is IAPN’s logo along with a selection of coins from Ancient Rome, Medieval Florence, Ancient China and the United States in the 19th century. The English legend references the May 21-24, 2026 dates of the Congress which is also described as the 74th Assembly in Latin numerals.
Originally, what became the obverse and reverse were alternative proposals for the obverse with the IAPN logo forming the reverse. However, IAPN’s Executive Committee believed that both designs were of such artistic merit that they both should be utilized for the finished medal. Ms. Principe readily accommodated this request, which also required some adjustments of the legends and other details on each side.
Umberto Moruzzi of Moruzzi Numismatics both organized the Congress and the medal’s production. The medal was cold-struck by Omea Milano (https://www.omea.it/sito/) and then lathe-finished and hand-patinated. It is 60 mm in diameter. Bronze examples were distributed to IAPN member firms attending the Rome Congress along with gold and silver plated copies for dignitaries attending associated events.
The decision to strike a medal for IAPN’s 75th Anniversary was a return to a past tradition of striking special medals to commemorate IAPN’s annual Congress. See https://www.iapn-coins.org/IAPN-Medals. IAPN’s Congress is held every year in a different city around the globe to conduct Association business and to foster relationships between IAPN member firms. IAPN’s upcoming Congress will take place in Hong Kong in May 2027.
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