Italy - 5 lires 1879 R - Umberto I

The coin's story

This 5 lire coin in 900 thousandths silver was struck only in 1878 and 1879, at the beginning of the reign of Umberto I. Born in 1844, he succeeded his father Victor Emmanuel II in 1878 and would be assassinated in Monza on 29 July 1900 by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci. The portrait was engraved by Filippo Speranza, who signs along the neck, on the 1879 coin, the King's head is slightly larger and the relief less pronounced than in 1878. The reverse shows the crowned arms of Savoy, with a radiant star above. The edge repeats FERT, the motto of the House of Savoy adopted under Victor Amadeus II, whose exact meaning has been lost. Like the other écus of the Latin Monetary Union, these coins also circulated in El Salvador until 3 September 1892.