Italian Somaliland 1909-R 4 bese
The region of Somalia became of strategic importance for the European powers after the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869. The British were the first to occupy the region in force, followed by the Italians in 1895 who purchased the coastline south of British Somaliland from the sultan of Zanzibar. The British took control of the region during WWII, and eventually the British and Italian possessions were unified as an independent republic (1960). Somalia has proved to be virtually ungovernable as a nation, with the former British Somaliland breaking away again in 1991 and incessant civil conflict engulfing the remainder.
The first specimen was Lot 1618 in Steve Album auction 13 on May 18-19, 2012, and sold for $170. The lot description reads: "ITALIAN SOMALILAND: AE 4 bese, 1909-R, small verdigris spot reverse, About Extremely Fine." The second specimen was lot 72386 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2019), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALIAN SOMALILAND. 4 Bese, 1909-R. Rome Mint. NGC AU-58 Brown. Exhibiting just a hint of light wear, this pleasing brown issue still retains some underlying luster and brilliance."
Recorded mintage: 250,000.
Specification: bronze.
Catalog reference: KM 3.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2019 Collector's Choice Sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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