Italy - 50 Lire 50th Anniversary of Unification 1911

April 2024

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Italy issued a series of beautiful coins to celebrate the 50th Year of the Kingdom (unified; 1861 - 1911). The silver 2 Lire is affordable, with a nice example here in the Moneta Museum, while the 5 Lire is very expensive in high grades, as is the gold 50 Lire, I had to settle for this exceptional AU 58. Only 20,000 of these were struck. See the 10 Centesimi here in the Museum, which is the only other coin in the 1911 Anniversary series. Obverse shows the portrait of the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III. Reverse, are two standing figures: the female represents Italy and the male Rome. Behind the figures there is a giant steel WWI war ship. It's interesting to note that the 10 Centesimi and 2 Lire coins feature the wooden ship but the reverse design is changed for the 5 Lire and this 50 Lire piece with the war ship now changed to a steel war ship that is garlanded. Another great coin from Italy, with the highest condition I've seen on this at MS 61, all had major flaws so this find was a must have. Design by Italian designer D. Trentacoste and Luigi Giorgi INC.
The ANA's "Numismatist" for Oct 2020 (p.39) has a nice little feature on the coins of Vittorio Emanuele III at this: [ link ]