Emilia 1860 2 lire
This specimen was lot 534 in Classical Numismatic Group's sale of the Lissner Collection (Chicago, August 2014), where it sold for $2,299. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY, Sardegna (Regno). Vittorio Emanuele II. As Re Eletto d’Italia, 1859-1861. AR 2 Lire. Firenze (Florence) mint; segni: Mt. Araldici/snake devouring tail. Guiseppe Ferraris, engraver. Marchese Luigi Ridolfi, director. Dated 1860 F. In NGC encapsulation graded MS 64. Muted very lustrous surfaces with just a hint of patina. A superb type coin and very scarce. Highest graded, none higher. Purchased from Ben Adams, 1971." In 1859-61, a provisional coinage was struck in Florence for Emilia-Romagna while Italy was being unified. Issues included a fifty centesimi, a one lira, a five lire and ten and twenty lire in gold. The 1860 two lire is scarce, the 1861 is rare. The following year, Victor Emanuel was proclaimed king of a united Italy.
Recorded mintage: 558,824.
Specification: 10 g, 0.900 fine silver, this specimen Ø26 mm, 9.97 g, 6h axis.
Catalog reference: KM 12; Pagani 436; C 86; Mont 112.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Gigante, Fabio, Gigante 2016: Catalogo Nazionale delle Monete Italiano Dal '700 All'Euro, 24a ed. Varese, Italy, 2015.
- Montenegro, Eupremio, Montenegro 2015: Manuale del Collezionista di Monete Italiane, 30 ed., Torino, Italy: Montenegro s.a.s., 2014.
- [1]Teller, M. Louis, and Victor England, Jr., The Richard Lissner Collection, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, 2014.
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