Italy 1808-M 40 lire

from the Mountain Groan Collection

Kingdom of Italy in 1806, from Putzger's Atlas

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 some numbers 1807-14. Its smaller sister, the twenty lire piece, is much scarcer. The silver five lire was struck in Milan, Venice and Bologna. The date 1808 comes in three varieties: without mintmark, with incuse lettered edge and with raised lettered edge (shown here).

Recorded mintage: 352,000 (most common date), 212,583^[2].

Specification: 12.90 g, 0.900 fine gold, .373 troy oz AGW, lettered edge, 26 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: Gig-72, KM 12.

Source:

• 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.* ^[2]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.

Link to:

• 1808-M centesimo
• 1808-B lira
• 1808-M 2 lire
• 1808-M 20 lire
• 1809-M 40 lire
• Coins and currency dated 1808