Italian Republic silver 500 Lire coins KM#98 Proofs

I am starting a set of Italian silver 500 Lire coins minted from 1958 to 2001. I am setting up a Excel file to keep track of all of the coins in the series. In doing so, I resorted to the Standard Catalog of World Coins (Krause) and Numista.com. I found a discrepancy between the two sources. Numisma.com shows proof coins were minted from 1985 to 2001, whereas Standard Catalog of World Coins states that proof coins were minted as early as 1968. Is there anyone familiar with this series who determine which source is correct?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I am not an expert in the series, but I have several because I love the design. looking at PCGS and NGC pop reports show...PCGS - 3 prior to 1985 grade as proof, 1 of those CA. NGC has 1 proof and 2 specimens if I remember what I saw. Proof sets started in 1985 and mint sets started in 1968. I can only guess that actual proof coins start in 1985 and 58-84 were specimen/prooflike examples.

 

Thank you! I didn't think to check NGC or PCGS. Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins have entries for PF65 for dates before 1985; however, the mintages are included with the business strikes. From 1985, both business and proof strikes are listed separately.

This is a nice set to collect - especially since there are some interesting commemoratives that were minted along the series: 700th Anniversary - Birth of Dante Alighieri; 500th Anniversary of the Birth of Michelangelo Buonarroti; Galileo Galilei - 350th Anniversary of his masterpiece; 900th Anniversary of the University of Bologna, etc. Italy has a long and rich history.

 

If anyone has some, show us some pictures!

 

1960 PCGS 63

1961 PCGS 66

1970 PCGS 67

 

Hi from Italy

I confirm that proof coins were minted from 1985 to 2001. Before 1985 are known coins "prooflike" (italian "fondi lucidi", I think it's the same thing).
Their number is unknown, included in the total mintage.

Yeah, but for five years there are discrepancies in mintage of proof coins between Krause and Italian catalogs, so these are mintage of "Gigante 2017", the best reference for Italian coins

1985 - 15,385 (Krause 15,000)
1986 - 17,500 (Krause not specified)
1988 - 9,000 (Krause 10,000)
1989 - 9,260 (Krause 10,000)
1990 - 9,400 (Krause 10,000)

For the other years, mintage is the same for Krause and Gigante. My reference for Krause is 38th edition, 2011, I don't know if, in more recent editions, they corrected discrepancies.

Congratulations for your choice, and best wishes for your collection

petronius

 

I only have Two. 1968, mintage 100,000 and 1968, mintage 310,000. Both from mint sets. One of these days I might submit for grading.

 

Interesting. Are these all business strike examples? Because some of them have clear prooflike tendencies.

 

My two are still sealed in the original mint set packaging. Not proofs.

 

Thanks all for your replies!

@petronius Thanks for the mintage figures and providing the reference to the book "Gigante 2017." I searched on Amazon.com for this book, but I could not find it. I finally found the book at Amazon.it - so I am going to order it.

@solarson I have a few in the original mint set packaging. I am not sure if we have the same mint packaging because mine are not part of a set. It could be that the commemoratives in this series were sold separately. I have some some pictures below...

 

Be careful, I have the 2017 edition, but the last is 2018, published on August 2017. It's available at amazon.it, at the same price

https://www.amazon.it/Gigante-2018-Monete-italiane-alleuro/dp/8889805234/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512464282&sr=1-1&keywords=gigante 2018. monete italiane dal '700 all'euro

But, if you have already ordered 2017, don't worry, it's almost the same book, the only differencies could be in some coins's valuation.

petronius

 

I know I'm responding to an old posting, but I have a question about the Gigante Italian coin catalogs. Does Gigante or any other publication in Italy cover the coins of the Italian States prior to the 1700's. I have the "Gigante "DAL '700 ALL EURO" and it's excellent for more modern Italian coins. But I'd like to find something that covers the 1500's to 1600's.

Grazie/Thanks

 

Hi serafino,

as you know Italy before 1860 wasn't an unique state, but a lot of states, any with his proper coins. So, doesn't exist a unique book with all states, but many books specialized in a single state: Papal, Naples, Kingdom of Sardinia and Savoia, and so on. The only book that covers all Italian states, is Krause World Coins 1600 and 1700, but I think you have these.

I can suggest the books Monete Italiane Regionali (M.I.R.), but they are expensive.

https://varesi.it/libri.php

Actually are available Naples and other mints of South Italy, Florence and other mints of Tuscany, Milan and Emilia. But, if you are interested only in few states or mints, maybe I can suggest books only for these mints.

Another suggestion could be this cheap reprint of Corpus Nummorum Italicorum, the famous books sponsored by King Vittorio Emanuele III

https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=corpus nummorum italicorum&type=

I have one, Marche, and pages are very small, but other reprints wih big pages, as originals, are very expensive, more than 200 euros each.
I can send images of some pages of my book, Marche, so you can see if you like it, and maybe purchase one for testing. I can do next Tuesday, because tomorrow I'm not at home.

Ciao.
petronius

 

The 500 Lire coin is what I equate to the British Gothic Florin. Bellissimo!

 

Thanks petronius, I have the Krause World Coin books but I was hoping that there was a catalog in Italy like Gigante puts out that covers pre-1700. Gigante would do a great job if he ever does take on the job.

I'm mainly looking for the Sicilia region, Zecca di Palermo and Zecca di Messina coins

 

Well, but I think we are OT here, so, if you agree, I'll open a new thread dedicated to books and websites about Sicilian coins from 1200 to 1800.

petronius

 

That would be great. Any info you can provide would be excellent. Here in the USA there is very little info on the coins of the 1200 to 1800 Sicilian region. Krause is better than nothing but it's very basic and not very deep. There's more info on the Roman and Greek era in Sicily.

Same thing with the coin shows, I will find Roman and Greek Sicilian coins but have never seen a coin from the 1200s to 1500s Sicily.

In Italy do you see these Sicilian 1200 to 1800 coins at coin shows ?

 

There are dealers that sell these coins, but I don't know if I can talk about them here. Maybe for this is better if I send you a PM.

petronius

 

Yes, if you don't mind please PM.

Thanks