10 Lira Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Silver Vittorio Emanuele III ...

Mint Place: Rome
Mint Year: 1936 (XIV)
Denomination: 10 Lire
Reference: KM-80 ($255 in MS-60!)
Material: Silver (.835)

Diameter: 27mm

Weight: 10gm

Obverse: Bare bust of Victor Emmanuel III right.

Legend: VITTORIO . EMAVUELE . III . RE . E . IMPERATORE

Reverse: Allegoric togate female figure (personification of Italy), standing on prow with crowned italian coat-of-arms, holding statue of victory and leaning on fasces.
Legend: ITALIA / 1936 XIV / L.10

Victor Emmanuel III (11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy (29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946). In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia (1936-41) and King of Albania (1939-43) which were unrecognised by the great powers in 1937 and 1939,   respectively. During his long reign, the Kingdom of Italy became   involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise   and fall of Italian Fascism.

He has been seldom treated sympathetically by historians.   At worst, his abdication prior to the referendum reminded undecided   voters of the role the monarchy and the King’s own actions (or   inactions) had played during the Fascist period, at precisely the moment   when monarchists were hoping that voters would focus on the positive   impression created by Crown Prince Umberto and Princess Maria José as the de facto king and queen of Italy since 1944. The ‘May’ King and Queen, Umberto   and Maria José, in their brief, month-long reign, were unable to shift   the burden of recent history and opinion. (Some present-day historians   have speculated that, had Victor Emmanuel abdicated in favour of Umberto   shortly after the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, Umberto’s relative   popularity might have saved the monarchy).