I've had this coin in my collection since long before the hoard release of recent years. It possesses a much different look than any of the hoard coins, with highly proof-like fields and a strong cameo contrast on the portrait. Any chance this is some sort of specimen striking, or do you think it was simply struck with fresh dies?
It does have a proof type look to it. Could be worth having a person who deals in these give a second opinion, then consider resubmitting for a re-look by the graders. Or, if you are indifferent to the flavor of plastic, maybe have NGC take a peek and render an opinion. I had a proof-looking coin in an NGC slab (bough online and had no idea just how good it looked until I got it). Really thought it was proof--watery fields (a bit of marks--the 64 it was wearing was honest) and frosty. Showed it to a fellow at the Atlas Numismatics table at a show and he thought so too. I resubmitted it to NGC at the show and they agreed, so it does happen. It was Albanian so the same mint as your coin.
The features are definitely frosty and looking at the image before reading my first thought was why did that coin get an MS grade instead of PR.
Yes that appears to be a proof strike. Wearing gloves see if the rims are sharper than usual. Or see if you can read text through the fields. -SC
I think they came out of a safe deposit box in Paris, what was once a fairly scarce coin is now generally available. Ditto the 1911 anniversary 50 Lire, -much more available than 10 years ago. It would appear the hoard contained multiple examples of the 1912 Italy 100 Lire coin as well, but for some reason the prices have held up much better on these large crown-size gold coins, especially in grades of MS63 or above.
