New Italian coin marks 30 years since murders of anti-Mafia judges.

Italy has paid tribute to the anti-Mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino by issuing a new €2 coin ahead of the 30th anniversary of their murders.

The commemorative coin was designed by Valerio De Seta, based on Tony Gentile's famous photograph of the two judges who were close friends and were killed within months of each other in 1992.

Italy minted three million coins which have legal tender status across the European Union and came into general circulation on 17 May, alongside a special limited edition version for collectors.

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Falcone and Borsellino spent most of their distinguished professional careers as judges and prosecuting magistrates trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia.

Falcone was assassinated by the Corleonesi Mafia in a bombing on the A29 motorway near the town of Capaci, on 23 May 1992. Falcone's wife and three police officers were also killed in the blast.

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Borsellino was killed by a car bomb in Palermo, along with five police officers, on 19 July 1992.

The mens' deaths, just 57 days apart, resulted in a huge outpouring of public grief as well as a major crackdown against the Sicilian Mafia, leading to the arrest of Cosa Nostra boss Totò Riina who died in jail in 2017.