Here are a couple interesting Italian coins from I lot I recently purchased. They are both rare/key for their issue. I would love input on their grade. They aren't beautiful but they aren't so bad either. Thanks again! Coin 1: 1919 10 Centesimi KM#60 mintage 986,000 (subsequent coins has mintage of 35,000,000) - I love the honey bee on the reverse Coin #2 1919 50 Centesimi KM#60 smooth edge mintage 3,700,000 (subsequent coins has mintage of 30,000,000)
1st coin looks F-VF. not sure on the other coin. those 1919 bee dated coins are coming harder and harder to find. took me 15 years to find an MS-63 BN NGC 1919. looking for those pics now brb
Here is my Italy holy grail. $500.00 NGC MS-63 BN bronze 1919 10 centesimi bee. series dates: 1919-1937
NGC stats.... link: https://www.ngccoin.com/census/world/italy-unified-1861-to-date/sc-180/10c/?c=241688 2 graded MS-63 BN only 1 higher in MS-65 RB I see no 1919 graded on the PCGS verification site. wow.
Those are crazy low population numbers. Thanks for the feedback on grade. I'm with you but lean more towards the VF end of the spectrum. My coin has a couple strikes against it in addition to wear (particularly the two marks below the C) but the overall wear isn't too bad. It appears the high points are the back of the bumble bee (stripes) and the wing tips. My coin's stripes are still faintly visible and the veins in the wings are better than other raw examples I've seen online...tough to tell with such a limited population and meager grade. Anyhow, thanks again.
maybe VF ? all in all this date is hard to come by. I have seen 2-3 others on Ebay but they did not look so good.
i found one in my italian group collection it is a 5 centesimi 1921 is this good date or what View attachment 659918
I would say VF details on both, but unfortunately neither would straight-grade at a TPG. Not that either one would be worth submitting to a TPG anyway. Well, the 10c might have slim chance, but I suspect the rim irregularities would trip it up. The 50c has surface issues (pitting/localized corrosion). I wouldn't call either one "rare", but you could certainly call the 1919 10c the key date for the type, which is cool. Nice finds, despite the issues. Italian bronze coins of the late 19th and early 20th century are usually found all beat up - often badly dented or knocked about - and I'm not really sure why. I mean, you see heavy wear on the British halfpennies and large pennies of the same era, but why the Italian ones got so badly abused beyond just normal wear has always been a mystery to me. The "bee" type 10c as posted is no exception. They're almost always mangled. That one is actually a little better than the norm for what I'm used to encountering in bulk lots. And ... key date. Ain't gonna make you rich, but that's a very cool find.
PS- it's the scratches above the date and below "C.10" that give me pause on the 10c piece. And the flatness of the rim at 12:00 on the "bee" side looks like damage (though more minor than usual). Interestingly, that apparent "cut" between about 10:00 and 11:00 on the edge of the same side looks like it might be a lamination.
