Coins from Albania

I just received a few coins from Albania and wanted to share a very brief history. Albania as a country dates back to 1912 when it gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. It was invaded by Italy in 1939 and became a protectorate of Nazi Germany in 1943. They self-liberated from Nazi Germany in November 1944. They've made some beautiful coins and I hope to continue adding them to my collection. Special thanks to @fred13

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

My congratulations, Sir. This set is very beautiful. Albanian coins aren't very common both in Russia and USA.

 

At the same time: the upper coin is not Albanian but Italian. Albanian coin (1 lek) looks so:

 

Thanks for the thread. It genuinely put a smile on my face from an otherwise unpleasant day

And of course my addition to the thread

 

That's certainly an understatement

Now the only thing left to do is to get you caught up on your Albanian history Doug! But don't worry I have several dozen resources to throw your way. Just say the magic word

 

Albania just happens to be one of those crossroads of the world where various empires etc have passed through on their way of conquest - or attempted conquest. Mercifully the last decade has brought a modicum of prosperity to a country and a people well deserving of it.

 

You, Sir, are correct, the 1 Lek from 1941 is actually rare. Since they were currently under Italian occupation at the time, I'm happy to group it under both categories as it was likely used in both countries. Having said that, I appreciate the distinction.

 

Now THAT is a beautiful coin

 

Interesting coins from Albania. I was also curious about whether or not any of these coins were actually made there, because I learned years ago that many nations hired the U.S. and Canada to make coins for them since their own minting facilities are too small to make enough of their own coins, so how can we really know for certain where they were made?

 

Their coins were minted in London, Rome, and Vienna based on the lettering of the mint mark. For example, the 1/2 Lek was minted in London and the 1939 2 Lek was minted in Rome. I am not certain about the Socialist period and where their coins were minted after about 1941.

 

Fred, great looking coin,love the artwork involved in this piece!.....

 

Very cool coins @Seattlite86 .

Here's one for which I have a picture handy. I really like the Romagnoli designs, like the 1 Lek with Alexander the Great and the rider on horse you also posted.

 

Here's one I found yesterday at a LCS for $0.10 from the common foreign bin:

 

That is a fearsome lion. I agree that these are their most intriguing coins

 

39 ALBANIAN COINS IN MY COLLECTION ARE LISTED HERE : http://giladzuckerman.webs.com/mercuguinness.html#ALBANIA

 

And couple of coins from me...

 

Seattlite86 nailed it. Regarding the Socialist era, Albania still did not have the proper minting equipment to produce coins then. The primary reason is it didn't make sense to invest such a large amount of money to provide a nation of a bit more than a million with currency. This was again outsourced except now to the new nations with a vested interest in Albania; i.e members of the Warsaw Pact. The actual country that minted Albania's coins was Hungary. Then when Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in the late 60's and burned relations with Russia they turned further East to China who in turn began producing the coins and is responsible in particular for all of the aluminum socialist Albanian coins such as the lovely examples Siberian Man posted above

 

Another example to share; Corroded yes but lovely all the same and an example that brings out the beauty of the obverse

 

My newest one...took a chance buying via sixbid on an auction in Luxumbourg. This commemorates 25 years of Independence. Not sure I'm a huge fan of the black specks, but it's about as good as one as I have ever seen. Currently in a PCGS slab, not sure if it will stay there yet or not.