Mussolini on a coin...A Fantasy issue? But who's fantasy?

Mussolini on a coin...A Fantasy issue? But who's fantasy?

Picked this up several years ago. Don't know much about it. Origins or purpose I mean.

Here's some hard facts:

1943, 20 Lire

17.5000g
0.6000ag
0.3858oz
35.2mm

Reverse is based on the KM#70 issue

 

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I found an earlier thread on this in the jurassic period Cointalk, circa 2004 after posting this thread. Is there anyway I can escape the noose for posting the same or a related thread?

 

I hate when the message board fascists (get it, Mussolini?) pop up to yell at someone for duplicate posts. You can hide in my basement until the heat passes.

 

Thanks, but I'm hiding behind my bar. And it's a good thing too, I just noticed my starfish is crawling out of the tank.

 

As for opening new topics with "old" subjects, I don't find that annoying either. What I don't particularly like is several topics, all started within a couple of days, about something new (e.g. Canada phases the penny out). But even that may be difficult to avoid ...

And that "Mussolini coin" is a fantasy piece; there are no coins with his portrait. The date 1943 refers to when he was "saved" and reinstalled, so to say, but the piece was certainly not issued back then. It is a relatively recent (1970s maybe, not sure) fantasy piece. The original - KM 70, as you mentioned - has pretty much the same design except it shows the Italian king Vittorio Emanuele III.

Christian

 

I figured it was pretty recent, but who would have taken the time to make these? Especially about a controversial figure like Mussolini.

 

From what I have read, many such pieces - also with other "historical figures" - were offered in Italy, and mostly sold to tourists. This one is even listed in Krause's Unusual Coins catalog, see http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/WorldCoinPrices.aspx?category=136853&worldcoinid=339918

As for why anybody would buy such a thing, in my opinion there are collectors (mostly but not only from the US) who would really badly want to have such pieces. Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin for example never appeared on coins from their countries, so the second best option is such a medal. And maybe there was or is domestic demand too; Mussolini was a dictator but different from, say, Hitler in many regards. So there are some people who, while they would not want his regime to come back, may be interested in such a memento of "grandezza" ...

Christian

 

Unfortunately in Italy there are people nostalgic of fascism these "coins" are targeted especially to them, as well as other "memories" of Mussolini: calendars with his picture, bottles of wine with his portrait, and more.
I'm not a nostalgic, far from, but once I was in Predappio, Mussolini's birthplace, and there are many shops that sell only these things...it is also likely that these "coins" are manufactured right here.
And at the cemetery in Predappio, where Mussolini is buried, there is always someone who stands guard of honor on his grave, wearing a black shirt.

petronius

 

"Krause. Unusual World Coins, 4th Edition", page 279, number X# 2. This fantasy coin was made in 1970.
Regards.
Eugene.

 

These items used to be sold at coin shows.

I have a similar one with Mussolini's pal which I bought at a show in the 1960's.

Total fantasy.

Bad boys sell.

Roman coins of the evil Caligula are worth much more than coins of nice guy Antoninus Pius.

 

I don't know if she still is, but a few years ago Mussolini's granddaughter was in their legislature. I think she's with the communist party. Interesting historical footnote there. Could you imagine a Hitler descendant being a German politician now? (I know he didn't have any children - just hypothetical).

 

Why not? Germany is the democratic country where each person have an equal rights!

 

And what about a descendants of Jefferson Davis...? He was the great rebel!...

 

Hmm. Alessandra Mussolini is or was a singer, an actor, a model ... and a member of various parties of the more or less extreme right.

Christian

 

They have a right, but realistically in a democracy people are still judged by their history. In the U.S. many candidates are judged by what their ancestors did. It's not fair, but it's reality.

 

She's still in the Italian parliament now with "Il Popolo della Libertà," the Silvio Berlusconi's party.

petronius

 

Similar to a real issue, especially the reverse. And that's the part that has always been my favorite. My understanding is the literal translation is "Better to live a single day as a lion than a century as a sheep" ---very fitting for the era!

 

Right, that actual coin (which the design of this thing is based on) is mentioned in the first post. Not exactly a cheap piece ... And that motto sure was popular among the Italian fascists.

Christian

 

Yeah, it was a very popular motto during fascism, but is not properly a fascist motto.
It dates back to World War I, after the defeat of Caporetto, when the Italian army stood at defense on the Piave River. It was found written on a crumbling wall, by the hand of an unknown soldier, and is known as the motto of the infantryman of Piave.





petronius

 

I have relatives who are farmers near Reggio Emilia, an area notorious for its left-leaning politics. Trust me, they were not fans of Mussolini or any fascists. That said, Mussolini was not a Hitler. Mussolini was a brutal, egomaniacal, and delusional killer. As evil as Hitler? Hardly.

Interestingly, Mussolini began his political life as a leftist, socialist. Only later did his authoritarian politics mutate into fascism.

This is not a political forum, so I will stop here. I will finish with the thought that both fascism and communism are forms of authoritarianism and collectivism--the great enemies of liberty and free choice.

guy