Italy 5 lire 1911 R - Victor Emmanuel III - 50 years of the kingdom

The coin's story

This 5 lire coin in 900 thousandths silver was struck in 1911 for the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, from 1861 to 1911. Victor Emmanuel III came to the throne on 29 July 1900, after the assassination of his father Umberto I, and reigned until his abdication on 9 May 1946, three weeks later, the referendum of 2 and 3 June 1946 abolished the monarchy. The reverse shows two figures: Italia, standing, and Rome, seated on an altar, with a steam warship and a flower-decked plough, and the dates 1861-1911. Both sides are the work of the sculptor Domenico Trentacoste, and the obverse was engraved by Luigi Giorgi. The coin was struck at the Rome Mint in only 60,000 pieces. The edge repeats FERT, the motto of the House of Savoy, whose exact meaning has been lost.