What is the coin that is worth € 40,000? Here is the answer. PHOTO

Do you want to know which coin is worth € 40,000? It is one of the most incredible pieces of Italian numismatic collecting. It is surrounded by an aura of mystery and stories bordering on the unbelievable. It is a real museum piece that, if found, could make the owner the holder of a fortune, or a piece of history.

For many collectors it is a real chimera, considering the circumstances of the minting and the disappearance of at least two specimens from national museums. The fact remains that the search or the fortuitous discovery may mean finding a treasure: let’s find out together what currency it is.

What is the coin that is worth € 40,000?

The coin we are talking about is the 5 Lire of the Kingdom of Italy minted in 1901. A coin minted in 900 silver and produced by the Mint of Rome in only 114 examples. A 37mm diameter coin that weighs approximately 25 grams. The peculiarity of this coin is that it was a non-issued coin: it served as a test to verify what effect the printing of the face of Vittorio Emanuele III, the new monarch of Italy, had on a coin of the same width then used for the Shield, issued later. .

The coin was considered by Vittorio Emanuele III himself as a piece of history to be handed down to posterity, an awareness that the monarch had due to the possession of various numismatic collections of Europe from previous centuries. As we have mentioned, however, the two specimens kept in our museums have been lost – almost certainly stolen – without ever having found those responsible.

But the anecdotes do not end here: the 114 specimens are a “certification” from a writing of the time, which reports that they are the only coins saved from a metal recast decided for political and diplomatic problems related to the issue of that coin. .

Description and value of the 5 Lire 1901

The face of Vittorio Emanuele III King of Italy is stamped on one of the two sides of the coin, with his name surrounding it, and with the name of the author of the coin, Speranza, under his neck. The other side is characterized by the presence of the symbols of the House of Savoy: the Savoy Eagle and the knot inside a small rectangle. Then appear the words Kingdom of Italy, the nominal value of the coin, the year of minting 1901 and finally the symbol of the mint of Rome.

Its estimated value of about 40.000 € uro is to be referred to the coin in a SPL state of conservation (splendid). A possible specimen in Fior di Conio, apparently unobtainable, has an estimated value of between 60 and 90 thousand euros. The coin is so precious and researched that even an original changed hands and with any unreadable parts could mean being in possession of an object worth 14 thousand euros. It must be considered that in general the unreadable coins, even if only partially, are worth very little.

As in all cases, even for the 5 Lire 1901 it is necessary to pay attention to possible fakes or replicas. Legend has it that some politicians of the early 1900s may have exploited their influences to ask the Mint of Rome for a “private” minting reproducing the coin, already very famous a few years after its production.

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