Sorry, I typed an explanation but it seems to have vanished into thin air. Anyway, this is what I said: I was browsing Italian coins on eBay and I saw this listing for a 1928 20 lire, which is quite valuable. Krause lists it at $150 in the lowest grade. I was looking up the listing in Krause and I noticed that while Krause shows a picture with the king on one side, this coin has Mussolini on it. I remember reading on a previous Cointalk thread that no coins with Mussolini were ever made, but that some fantasy coins were made, so this is a fake. It looks authentically old though so that's interesting. I contacted the seller who I don't think is intentionally misleading people. Here's the link, but it might get taken down so I saved the photos. http://www.ebay.com/itm/310713178158?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
The reverse almost matches Krause (KN 70) 20 lire 1928 R. One must admit that the Italians have always made beautiful coinage.
If the design varies from the "expensive" coin in Krause, it's obviously a fake or simply a different coin. And iwhy would you buy a pierced coin in the first place?
It doesn't appear to be silver as the real coin was, nor is the lettering in alignment as it would be on the actual coin. Where it was drilled it almost appears to have some lead or pot metal look to it.
This is basically a fantasy piece. There are no Italian coins featuring Mussolini. Whoever made that - these pieces were produced in the late 1960s and early 70s - did indeed take the design of a 20 lire coin (with the lion and the fasces) and combined that with a "duce" portrait ... Christian
If you are a collector with a limited budget and you could get a coin that is otherwise way beyond your price range because it had a hole, I might consider it. Anyway, the seller wrote back to me and said they intended to mention that it was a fantasy piece and they have ended the auction. I'm just proud I was able to notice this. It shows I'm learning.
Had an interesting incident with this same seller a while back regarding a fake coin they had listed. I sent a message explaining why the coin was fake, he replied that he purchased it as part of an old estate collection. I pointed out that I saw the eBay listing for that coin which he won a week earlier, and there was no more reply after that. He did take the listing down, but I just never understand what people have to gain from telling little white lies in situations like this. It was an obvious fake with incorrect details and I was only trying to help the guy out.
This coin was a fantasy type, some are silver plated brass while others are made of gold. Krause has it listed in the Unusual World Coin Book as X#6a Here's mein, which is the silver/brass type:
