Morning everyone.....
I couldn’t wait till Wednesday this week for this tag. I made a purchase of a coin on EBay a few weeks ago and the package was delivered Monday.
You might be thinking a couple of weeks ago????
Yep, the coin that I purchased was from a dealer in France. So it took a little bit to get here.
So the coin today is from Italy again. And after you see it, you will understand why I bought it.
I’d like to start off by saying the dealer that I made the purchase from is absolutely top notch all the way. Look at how this coin was sent and prepared.
It came in this beautiful trifold pamphlet, with the coin mounted in an envelope with a sealed signatures tape holding it. First class numismatic company all the way.
Now onto the coin....
The coin is a 1915 Italy 2 Lire silver coin.
Here are the specs:
Country Italy
King Vittorio Emanuele III (1900-1946)
Type Standard circulation coin
Years 1914-1917
Value 2 Lire (2 ITL)
Currency Lira (1861-2001)
Composition Silver (.835)
Weight 10 g
Diameter 27 mm
Thickness 1.9 mm
Shape Round
Obverse
Bust of King Vittorio Emanuele III facing right.
Below the name of the engraver.
Lettering
VITTORIO EMANUELE III RE D'ITALIA
D. CALANDRA
Engraver: Davide Calandra
Reverse
Italy standing on a quadriga with a shield on her left hand and an olive branch in the right. The date is below the prancing legs of the horses. On the line of exergue is the name of the author at left and of the engraver at right. In the exergue, the value is flanked by two knots with the mintmark on left and the Star of Italy at the right.
What you’ve been waiting for....
I gave this coin a very thorough check with a 20X and 30X loupe. I saw no signs of cleaning or alteration at all. It has a very interesting toning, which I think helps bring out the details of the coin.
Here are some close ups....
Being conservative I’d say this coin grades out very high AU either AU55 or AU58. It might even snag an MS60 or MS61. At some point I’d like to send out a batch of 20 world coins to NGC for grading. This might be in that lot.