Italy 1811-M 40 lire
This specimen was lot 1590 in Jean Elsen sale 150 (Brussels, March 2022), where it sold for €600 (about US$796 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIE, Royaume, Napoléon Ier (1804-1814), AV 40 lire, 1811M (sur 180[]). Petits coups sur la tranche. Très Beau. (Italy, Napoleonic kingdom, 1804-14, gold forty lire of 1811, Milan mint. Minor nicks, Very Fine.)"
This coin was struck in Milan for Napoleon's kingdom of Italy which lasted 1804-1814. The forty-lire piece matched the French forty francs and was struck in limited numbers 1807-14. Varieties exist in the style of the lower points of the standards on the reverse. Its smaller sister, the twenty lire piece, is much less often encountered. The silver five lire was struck in Milan, Venice and Bologna.
Recorded mintage: 106,000.
Specification: 12.90 g, 0.900 fine gold, .373 troy oz AGW, lettered edge, 26 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 12, M. 197; Gig-76a.
- 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.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 150: Collection J.F.L. Blankenberg, Monnaies de l'Orient Latin, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2022.
Link to: