Italy 2 lire 1863 N - Victor Emmanuel II

The coin's story

This 2 lire coin in 835 thousandths silver, dated 1863, bears on the reverse the arms of Savoy with the collar of the Annunziata, within a laurel wreath. Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia who became the first King of Italy in 1861, reigned until his death in 1878. The Pepoli law of 24 August 1862 created the Italian lira, the single currency of the new kingdom, at par with the French franc, in 1865, Italy joined the Latin Monetary Union with France, Belgium and Switzerland. The King's portrait was engraved by Giuseppe Ferraris, whose name appears below the neck. The legend REGNO D'ITALIA (Kingdom of Italy) surrounds the arms. The mark N BN, in a rectangle, denotes the Naples Mint, which struck 10,089,939 pieces of this date. The edge repeats the motto of the House of Savoy, FERT. The coin was demonetised on 7 August 1883.