In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Europe found itself in the middle of monetary reform. This reform took place even before the establishment of the European Union in 1993. In the late nineteenth century, the Latin Monetary Union (1865) restricted the minting of crown-size silver coinage. Italy, a member of the LMU alongside France, Switzerland, and Belgium, decided to produce a coin in violation of the restrictions anyway in the early twentieth century. That coin has made its way onto our top 100 list series.
Produced at the beginning of the twentieth century, this coin, according to authors Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker, “represents two tantalizing narratives: Italy’s sociopolitical scene during the first half of the twentieth century and the European monetary reforms that preceded the development of the European Union.” Making its way into Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Modern World Coins 2020 publication, we will take a look at the 5 lire that was struck to honor a king despite its clear infraction.
#71 - Italy 1901-R Silver 5 Lire
In 1878, the Latin Monetary Union decided to forbid the production of crown-size silver coins due to a decrease in bullion values during the recession that took place during the late 1870s. Italy, in addition to the countries mentioned above, came together to consolidate all the currencies. The idea came from France as their bimetallic money system consisted of silver and gold coinage. France was already a powerful force economically and it was already well-known that its currency circulated through the neighboring countries. The LMU was hopeful that France would be able to broaden their horizons across a greater part of Europe while the other countries would gain economic access and trade opportunities. Agreements were made that each country could produce their own currency as long as they followed the guidelines based on the French franc. Uniformity was key to their success.
In 1868, both Greece and Bulgaria joined the LMU while other countries like Spain and Romania considered themselves on becoming members. However, they would settle on their own Union standards in the end. While things seemed to be going well, there were some flaws within the Union that ultimately led to the downfall of it completely. For example, one of the policies within the Union was designed to stabilize the economy during a time for which silver was dropping drastically. The policy itself was fixed silver pricing. However, the LMU ended up having to purchase gold coins with overvalued silver. This caused gold coins to become scarce amidst circulation between the countries a part of the LMU as they made their way into countries that were not a part of it. Other policies undermined the entirety of the alliance between the LMU and favored instead of their own interests. These issues in addition to the effects of World War I brought the LMU to its knees in 1926.
Aside from economic issues, Italy was facing social problems as the colonization of two countries in Africa, the occupancy of both Sicily and Naples, socialists’ ideals spreading, and clear violations of civil rights were attributed to their uneasy homefront. All of this was causing hostility towards the crown for which came to a head when King Umberto I was assassinated on July 29, 1900, by an anarchist. The son of the king ascended to the throne until he abdicated it after World War II when political reform ended the Italian monarchy.
In order to celebrate and honor the new king, The Kingdom of Italy struck a 1901 5-lire coin featuring King Victor Emmanuel III. It was the first coin to feature the image of the newly crowned king. However, the coin was only ever categorized as a pattern as it violated the LMU’s standards. It was produced with a prooflike finish at the Polygraphic Institute and State Mint in Rome. There is an ‘R’ at the bottom of the reverse representing Rome. Designed by Filippo Speranza, an Italian medalist, the 1901 issue of the coin is the rarest of a trio of early twentieth century 5 lire coins. There were only 114 struck but many of them were melted leaving the exact amount of their existence today nearly impossible to calculate.