Italy 20, 50, and 100 Lire 1879 to 1897

Umberto the first ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1878 to 1900 and many coins were issued with his likeness. The 20, 50, and 100 lire were issued in gold, as follows:

20 lire: 21 mm diameter, 6.45 grams, 0.1867 troy ounces gold
50 lire: 28 mm diameter, 16.13 grams, 0.4667 ounces gold
100 lire: 34 mm diameter, 32.26 grams, 0.9334 ounces gold

Note that 'troy' is understood when you are talking about 'ounces' of precious metal.

NEVER CLEAN A COIN. CLEANING RUINS VALUE.

The 50 and 100 lire coins are quite rare and valuable, and the 20 lire is not too shabby, either! As always, you must watch out for counterfeits.

The listings below give approximate catalog values for the 20, 50 and 100 lire coins, but the 20 lire coins are best evaluated in two steps. First, multiply their gold weight by the current price of gold. For instance, if gold is selling at $1200 US dollars per ounce (refer to kitco.com for the current value), the multiplication is 1200 x 0.1867 = $224. This is the base value (BV), which is sometimes called the melt value.

20 lire coins in well worn condition, or ones with problems like scratches and stains, or having been used in jewelry, are worth the melt value. But collector demand lifts off zero for nice-looking coins. Here are some approximate catalog values.

20 LIRE (all dates except 1884, see below)
worn: BV
average circulated: BV + $50 US dollars
well preserved: BV + $100
fully uncirculated: BV + $300

If you want to sell one, figure a collector would pay about 90% of these values, and a dealer might pay about 80 percent of melt plus a few dollars collector premium.

The 1884 20 lire is a special date, as follows:

20 LIRE dated 1884
worn: $700 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $1500
well preserved: $1800
fully uncirculated: $2500

Here are values for the 50 and 100 lire.

50 LIRE dated 1884, 1888, 1891
worn: $2000 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $3000
well preserved: $6000
fully uncirculated: $8000

100 LIRE dated 1882, 1883, 1888
worn: $7000 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $8000
well preserved: $9000
fully uncirculated: $10000

100 LIRE dated 1880, 1891
worn: $10000 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $18000
well preserved: $30000
fully uncirculated: $50000

So all the high denomination (50 and 100 lire) coins are valuable, but the figures above are very approximate. Pinpointing a value requires professional authentication and precision coin grading.

This graphic shows a side by side comparison of a genuine Umberto 50 lire versus a specimen sent to us by a guy named Roman. The difference in photography is evident, but look closely at the details of the coins. The differences in strength of design of King Umberto's nose and forehead are especially noticeable.

The issue of genuine or fake won't be put to bed until a professional authenticator inspects the coin in person. Pictures can be deceiving. CoinQuest suggests that Roman send his coin to one of these services: PCGS, NGC, ICG, or ANACS. Look them up on the Internet. Do not use other services.
cqLastNotify