A more difficult "horse" type coin...

In the past week I was able to pick up an example of an Italian type coin that has been on my radar for quite some time. It is admittedly "crusty", but the design is simply stunning -- as I can say for many an Italian coin.

This is a wonderful type coin minted in Italy from 1926-1934. However, for collectors, it was effectively minted from 1926-1930, as the 1931-1934 pieces are exceedingly rare with a mintage of only 50 pieces from each year. The 1928 mintage was relatively high (6.8 million coins), but regardless of the year, this is a particularly difficult coin to find in collectable grades of AU and higher, and gem mint state examples are few and far between. This particular example exhibits a nice "crusty" original look, and I was very happy to find it as an affordable example of the type in my horse themed set.

To complicate matters, for the years 1927-1929, this coin design comes in two varieties. One has the edge lettering * FERT * (one star separation; referred to as KM# 68.1) while the other has the edge lettering * * FERT * * (two stars separation; referred to as KM# 68.2). While this difference is subtle, the pricing is quite different, particularly for the 1928 coin. According to Krause, the 68.1 version (which is the one I have) is books at around $300 in AU, whereas the scarcer 68.2 version of the coin books at around $1400.

The obverse of the coin features the bust of Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy from 1909-1946. The reverse features a woman riding in a biga (a chariot drawn by two horses used in ancient Rome for sporting events, transportation, and ceremonial occasions). This two horse chariot is the analogy to the larger and quite possibly more well known quadriga, which is drawn by 4 horses instead of 2. A quadriga design is also featured on Italian 1 Lire and 2 Lire coins of this period, and I have a 1916-R 2 Lire graded MS62 holding that spot in my set.

As always, I will post larger images on the chat boards thread. I hope everyone is having a good summer and avoiding the horrendous heat that has been sweeping across our nation.

Be well, and happy collecting!

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