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Name of Country Using the Euro: Italy Population: 57.5 million Currency used before the Euro: Lira Date currency expired: February 28, 2002 In Italy, 1 euro = 1936.27 Lira  Other interesting facts about Italy and its money: • Italian banks are closed on the weekends. • The capital of Italy is Rome, and Italy's main language is Italian. • The main exports are machinery and transport, equipment, chemicals, clothes, and wine. • Average annual income is US $20,170. • The president of Italy is Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and the prime minister of Italy is Silvio Berlusconi. • In Italy a bank was robbed and over half a million euros were stolen and the police didn't find out who the thieves were. Read about the bank robbery on the Sky News web site.  • Italy is surrounded by two countries participating in the euro: France and Austria. This is what each of the Italian euros has on the national side. The links will take you to websites that show you pictures or give you information about some about the artist or building or artwork on the euro coins. • Castel del Monte is on the 1 cent euro coin. • The Mole Antonelliana Tower is on the 2 cent coin. • The Flavius amphitheater is on the 5 cent coin. • Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus is on the10 cent coin. • Sculpture by Umberto Boccioni is on the 20 cent coin. • A statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius on horseback is on the 50 cent coin. • Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing of the human body is on the 1 euro coin. • A drawing of Dante Alighieri by Raphael is on the 2 euro coin.     The coin with the Mole Antonelliana Tower is worth 2 Euro cents. The building was designed in 1863 by Alessandro Antonelli. If you go to the observation deck of the Tower, you'll see the whole city of Turin. To see pictures of the national sides of the coins and look at their values, click here. To learn more about living in Italy, click here.