1914 Italian 2-lire

[villa66]

A 1914 Italian 2-lire piece of the "Lively Quadriga" type, coined to the LMU standard of 10 grams of silver, .835 fine. A wonderful coin. And metallic shorthand, I think, for the Europe that was then on the brink of the smash-up that would be World War One:  bright silver and so rich, beautiful and so accomplished, sophisticated and–seemingly–so strong, tough, and permanent.

But if that was the Europe of 1914 when this design was introduced, it was just three years later, in 1917, that these silver coins were being withdrawn and replaced with paper notes. Old Europe had disappeared into the mud and the artillery smoke, or else fallen into the grave.

v.

[bagerap]

This is one of my top European coins. Beautifully executed, huge mintage 10M+ and yet hard to find in top condition. I'm still looking for one as good as illustrated.

[translateltd]

A gorgeous example - very nice to see.

[villa66]

...huge mintage 10M+ and yet hard to find in top condition....

Very many of these coins were recycled by the authorities, with their metal reappearing in the small-size 5-lire piece introduced in 1926.

v.

[bagerap]

I'd assumed that there'd been a fairly wholesale melting of these coins. I just love the design ethos that was circulating in Europe in that early part of the century.

[brg5658]

I agree, an absolutely stunning design.   I have two examples of the Davide Calandra designs in my collection.

The 1 Lire design (slightly different from the one you posted -- notice the pointy ears of the horses, and that all four horses are facing forward):


And, my example of the 2 Lire as you posted (though, mine is a 1915 instead of 1914 -- notice the detail in the horses' manes and that the third horse in is facing downward).