Fact-Check: No 7-Euro Coin Issued in Portugal to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Recently, a claim has surfaced on the internet that a 7-euro coin featuring Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo’s image has been issued in Portugal in his honor. Along with this claim, some images of coins with Ronaldo’s portrait have also been circulated. This claim has even been reported by various media outlets across different countries.

Check out some media reports with this claim: Free Press Journal (India), Geo News (Pakistan), El Universal (Mexico).

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Fact-Check

Rumor Scanner’s investigation reveals that the claim about a 7-euro coin being issued in Portugal in honor of Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo is false. The Central Bank of Portugal confirmed to Rumor Scanner that this claim is untrue. Additionally, the images of the coins being circulated with Ronaldo’s likeness are also artificially generated through AI.

The Rumor Scanner team has observed that this claim began circulating on the internet on September 12. After gaining traction on social media, the story was picked up by media outlets in various languages.

Upon closer inspection, certain irregularities in the circulated images indicated that they might have been generated using AI technology. To verify this, the images were analyzed using multiple AI detection tools, which returned results showing a 99% likelihood that the images were indeed artificially created.

In other words, the images of coins featuring Ronaldo are AI-generated.

A report published on the website of the Mexico-based Spanish-language newspaper ‘El Universal’ claimed that a commemorative coin featuring Ronaldo’s portrait could be issued to honor his remarkable career, and discussions on this topic have reportedly begun at the Central Bank of Portugal.

However, no such information could be found on the Central Bank’s website, and the country’s mainstream media outlets did not report anything similar.

To verify the claim’s authenticity, Rumor Scanner contacted the Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) via email. They informed us that no commemorative coin featuring Ronaldo has been issued, and there are no plans to do so at this time. The bank further clarified that Portugal currently has commemorative coins in denominations of 1.5, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 8, and 10 euros, details of which can be found on their website. Additionally, they stated that the annual approval of commemorative coin plans is not their responsibility and suggested contacting Portugal’s National Mint (Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda) for more information.

Rumor Scanner also attempted to contact the National Mint, but no response has been received so far. A review of their website revealed no announcement or information regarding such a commemorative coin.

Therefore, the claim that a 7-euro coin featuring Cristiano Ronaldo has been issued in Portugal is entirely false.

Sources

  • Rumor Scanner’s own analysis.
  • Statement from Bank of Portugal. 

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