Italy has created a special €5 coin dedicated to the Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone who died in Rome last summer. The limited-edition coin, issued by Italy's ministry of economy and finance on 15 June, features a portrait of Morricone as well as an image of the maestro's hands in the act of conducting.
Designed by Maria Angela Cassol, the coin comes in two versions: one silver with a circulation of 8,000, the other bimetallic with a circulation of 10,000 coins. Morricone wrote the soundtracks for over 500 films and television series, starting with the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
