Francis Anno V

harasha

Possibly the nicest medal so far, but I still would prefer to see a portrait. Not a full frontal though. The nose does not do well.

worldcoinguy

Impressive design. I like it.

Iosephus

That's a nice reverse design, and it's interesting to see the waves carry over to the background of the obverse. However, I do agree that a portrait would be much better.

STLNATS

Interesting reverse type with a reference to current immigration/refugee situation around the world. I agree that this may be the best design produced for this pope's medals. Very effective obverse as well. It's clear that portraits have been intentionally abandoned for both the annual medals and standard/currency coinage for this pope. He still seems to appear on some commems and "extraordinary" medals.

Stork

The person in the background holding a child evokes the sad photos of the drowned child.

STLNATS

I ran across an explanation for the omission of the pope on medals and "circulating" coins over the last few years. It dates from Feb 2017 and I had posted it on Forum Ancient Coins "Papal Corner."

Vatican City: Portrait of Pope Francis Removed from Circulation Euro Coins

The 2016 Vatican annuale medal omitted the pope's image, substituting his coat of arms. To me this seemed to be a significant departure from the use of the portrait on both Vatican City and earlier papal coins/medals and it now appears that the 2017 coinage will follow suit. This is an excerpt from http://news.coinupdate.com/ which was shared by Whitmancoin on facebook and which offers an explanation:

The Treasury of Vatican City State (or the Holy See) announced on the 24th January that from March of this year, new 2017-dated coins and those thereafter issued will no longer carry the effigy of His Holiness Pope Francis. The decision was carried out at the behest of the pontiff, and revised designs without the pope’s portrait were submitted to the European Union’s official Journal, who published the details and images of the new circulation-type coins.

It was widely known that the pope has, since the start of his pontificate, been uncomfortable with his portrait on money, especially as he has campaigned for greater distribution of the world’s wealth among the poorest. The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina was elected as the head of the Catholic Church and took the name of Pope Francis after the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. The first euro coins that included portraits of Pope Francis were issued in March 2014 and followed in 2015 and 2016. The coins included were 2- and 1-euro bimetallic coins, as well as 50-, 20-, 10-, 5-, 2-, and 1-cent coins.

The tradition of depicting the princes or heads of state of the Holy See on coinage has been in effect for centuries, as the possessions of the Vatican are recognized sovereign territory.