Pope Francis requests Vatican coat of arms and EU stars to replace his face on coins.

The Vatican will cease minting euro coins bearing the image of Pope Francis from March, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Instead, future Vatican coins will carry the Vatican's coat of arms and the stars of the European Union, following a personal request from Pope Francis last year.

The Vatican City State uses the euro as its official currency, as part of a monetary agreement with the EU and Italy. The Vatican euro coins are issued by the Italian mint, the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, on Rome's Via Salaria.

Although legal tender throughout the eurozone, Vatican euro coins generally end up on the collectors' market due to their relative rarity.

The Vatican is entitled to issue special collector euro coins, to commemorate events for example, however these are not legal tender in the EU.

The first Vatican euro coins were issued in 2002 and bore the face of the then pope, now St John Paul II.

For full details about the monetary agreement between the EU and the Vatican City State, see Vatican website.