Italy 1940-R lira
This specimen was lot 2791 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY: Vittorio Emanuele III, 1900-1946, 1 lira, 1940-R year XVIII, dated year 18 of the Fascist Era, magnetic type, a fantastic lustrous example! NGC graded MS66+." This type was struck 1939-43 in substantial quantities. The years 1939-40 come in magnetic (KM 77b) or non-magnetic varieties (KM 77a), depending on what alloy was used for the planchet. Stainless steel was still fairly new in 1940, having been patented just before World War One, and mint officials may have been oblivious to the difference between ferritic and austenitic stainless steel. We are combining both varieties on one page as the images are identical for both.
Recorded mintage: 25,997,000 (both varieties).
Specification: 8 g, stainless steel, 26.7 mm diameter, reeded edge. Engraved by Giuseppe Romagnoli.
Catalog reference: KM 77a (non magnetic) or KM-77b (magnetic).
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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