Collecting coins from the Italian 19th century makes it possible to get in touch with a world that is still somehow close and of which we can, still today, quite easily recognize remaining signs. Although the collection we are discussing concerns only one century and Italy only, the coins to consider would be of some hundreds of different types (it will obviously not be possible even simply to list them here, but we can give you an idea of their variety) shedding light on the complex political landscape of Italy at that time. The fact that there are so many is easily explained by the fact that the Italian unitary State formed in the nineteenth century and that, before 1861, Italy was only a “geographical expression”– according to a famous definition of Metternich – formed by barely a dozen States, some of which of modest importance, but each, of course, with its own monetary system. Exploring these systems, we first come across the Regno Lombardo-Veneto (Kingdom of LombardyVenetia), one of the States which were part of the Austrian Empire, where we can even find the coexistence of two monetary systems: its own local system and the general Austrian one. However, if the Austrian lira was used as a link for the currency in circulation, for what concerns gold coins the two monetary systems had no points of contact: The Sovrana of Lombardy-Venetia and the Austrian Ducat were two completely different coins, with no simple bond between them. From Lombardy-Venetia we step over to Tuscany, a Grand Duchy, which, although ruled by a member of the Habsburg family, wasn’t related to Austria as was Lombardy-Venetia. However, this case is no less complicated: we find traditional coins like Zecchini and Rusponi, newly designed samples, like the 80 Florins piece, a gold ingot turned into a coin, with a clear Ki24 (24 carats) mark. During our bird’s eye view of the peninsula, we now veer directly South, to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with a beautiful silver series in duodecimal sequence: 120 Grana Piastra, 60 Grana Mezza Piastra, 20 Grana Tarì, 10 Grana Carlino and 5 Grana Mezzo Carlino. The gold series is similar, based on the Ducat as a coin of account and minted as 30, 15, 6 and 3 Ducat coins. Among the most important pre-unity States, only the Papal States are left, discussed last because their monetization gives us a link to the most simple and famous part of the nineteenth century’s coinage, the decimal system one. In these States, which expressed the temporal power of the popes, we find the silver Scudo, divided into 100 Baiocchi and accompanied by gold coins that, starting from a small coin representing the declination in gold of the silver Scudo, has its three multiples: the 2 and a half Scudi, the 5 and 10 Scudi. It was a well-established monetary reality for centuries, however it faced a crisis beginning in 1861, when the Papal States were reduced to only Lazio, as their other territories, Umbria, Marche, Romagna and part of Emilia, became part of the Kingdom of Italy. Obviously, under the pressure of commercial needs, in 1866, just four years after their definitive cessation, the Papal States adopted the Italian Lira as currency and started issuing decimal coins similar to those of the Kingdom of Italy, except for some marginal differences in “denominations”. Belonging to the 1866-1870 period are the 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 Lira gold coins and the 5, 2 and a half, 2, and 1 Lira and the 10 and 5 Soldi silver coins (the last two amount respectively to 50 and 25 cents).
More interesting, and certainly less well known, are the decimal coins of the pre-Napoleon republics and of Napoleon himself. In this area, the golden 20 Francs of the Subalpine Republic stand out for several reasons. First, it is the first gold issue to comply with the decimal system standard, since its minting started in the 9th year of the revolution (1801), while in France, only starting from the 11th year (1804), the decimal gold coins joined the silver ones, which had been circulating since the 6th year (1796). In addition, by examining the coin in detail, on the obverse one can see a bust of a woman with a helm, a depiction of the Republic inspired by the goddess Minerva, and the legend L’ITALIE DÉLIVRÉE À MARENCO, Italy, freed in Marengo; basically a celebration of the battle and of its great political consequences. Since then, and still today, in Italy all the 20 Francs or Lire coins weighing 6.45 grams are called marenghi, in homage to this original coin and indirectly to the place in the province of Alessandria in whose territory the famous battle was fought. Napoleon’s coins are certainly more standardized and repetitive than those of the republics, but they offer a broader and systematic view on the coinage of their era, presenting all the possible denominations of the decimal system, both in Francs (Piedmont, Liguria and Lazio) and in Lira (for Lombardy, Venetia and Emilia Romagna). As always, the coinage is but a mirror of reality and it clearly shows the idea that Napoleon had of Italy: a land and people with a semblance of independence, but in all respects related to France. Other examples of decimal coinage of the Italian nineteenth century are also found in Parma, in the Duchy that was formed to be assigned to Marie Louise, Napoleon’s second wife and Archduchess of Austria, but the most interesting are those of the Provisional Government of 1848 minted in Milan and Venice. And we mustn’t forget Gioachino Murat, whose currencies in Naples copied the samples wanted by Napoleon in Milan. The quick roundup with which we went through the Italian 19th century coinage was intended to give at least an idea of the interest of a numismatic collection, even referred to a widely known period and in which there are no particular historical findings to be made. A period, however, which was very varied in terms of coinage, which well represents the historical transition from the modern to the contemporary age, and that lends itself to various collection approaches, exciting and engaging for both the experts who want to add important samples to their collections and for the novice collector who is gradually approaching numismatics.

BY Carlo Barzan