Sardinia 1815-AL 2.6 soldi
This specimen was lot 34587 in Heritage sale 3067 (Long Beach, September 2018), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "Italy: Sardinia. Vittorio Emanuele I 2.6 Soldi 1815-AL MS64 NGC, Turin mint. Billon issue and a most unusual denomination. Sharply struck portrait of the king and a handsome ashen tone that enticingly veils the original mint bloom. Most desirable as there are none finer listed By NGC." The SCWC lists a bewildering variety of small denominations for this north Italian state, including two denari, half soldo. one soldo, 2½ soldi, 2.6 soldi, five soldi, 7.6 soldi, ten soldi, fifteen soldi, twenty soldi, eighth scudo, quarter scudo and half scudo. In 1816, decimal coinage was introduced on the French model (Piedmont was annexed to France during 1802-14) and all these denominations were dropped. This denomination was struck after the war 1814-15 only. Altho the reverse states "SOL·2·6·", what is intended is not 2.6 soldi but two soldi and six denari, i.e., 2½ soldi.
Recorded mintage: 2,232,568 for 1814-15[2].
Specification: 2.56 g, 0.166 fine silver, 19 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 108, Mont-06.
- Gigante, Fabio, Gigante 2016: Catalogo Nazionale delle Monete Italiano Dal '700 All'Euro, 24a ed. Varese, Italy, 2015.
- [2]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, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2018 September 6-11 Long Beach Expo World Coins & Ancient Coins Signature Auction #3067, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2018.
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