Italy 5 lire 1812 M - Napoleon I

The coin's story

This 5 lire coin in 900 thousandths silver belongs to the series struck from 1807 to 1814 for the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. On 26 May 1805, in Milan, Napoleon crowned himself King of Italy with the Iron Crown of the Lombard kings, exclaiming “God gave it to me, beware whoever touches it”, he entrusted the kingdom to his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais, appointed viceroy. The Kingdom of Italy, tied to France for nine years, collapsed in 1814. The portrait and the arms were engraved by Luigi Manfredini. The reverse bears, under a crowned mantle, the imperial eagle charged with the arms of the kingdom, which bring together the Papal States, Lombardy, Venice, Este and Piedmont around the Iron Crown. On the obverse, the pomegranate is the privy mark of the director of the Milan Mint and the inverted cup that of the engraver. The 1812 M date was struck in Milan in 1,849,490 pieces. The edge bears the motto DIO PROTEGGE L'ITALIA (God protects Italy).