Italy: Coins Issued and Used
Showing only circulating coin types (regular coinage plus circulating commemoratives).
| Information about what currencies were issued by Italy, with lists of coinage, as well as periods when foreign-issued currencies were used. |
| Currency | Italian Lira |
|---|---|
| Period | Italian Lira |
| Used | 1861 - 2002 |
| Description | The lira (plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002 and of the Albanian Kingdom between 1941 and 1943. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a national subunit of the euro. However, cash payments could be made in lira only, as euro coins or notes were not yet available. The lira was also the currency of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy between 1807 and 1814. The term originates from the value of a pound weight (Latin: libra) of high purity silver and as such is a direct cognate of the British pound sterling; in some countries, such as Cyprus and Malta, the words lira and pound were used as equivalents, before the euro was adopted in 2008 in the two countries. "L", sometimes in a double-crossed script form ("₤"), was the symbol most often used. Until the Second World War, it was subdivided into 100 centesimi (singular: centesimo), which translates to "hundredths" or "cents". |
15 products (1859 - 1983)
| Product Name | Mintage |
|---|---|
| Italian-French Alliance Medal 1859 | unknown |
| Five Centesimi 1859 | unknown |
| One Centesimo 1862 | unknown |
| Fifty Centesimi 1863 | unknown |
| One Centesimo 1867 | unknown |
| Two Lire 1887 | unknown |
| One Lira 1887 | unknown |
| One Lira 1901 | unknown |
| One Lira 1917 | unknown |
| Ten Centesimi 1922 | unknown |
| Five Lire 1927 | unknown |
| Twenty Centesimi 1943 | unknown |
| Two Lire 1949 | unknown |
| One Lira 1950 | unknown |
| Twenty Lire 1983 | unknown |
| Currency | Euro, Italy |
|---|---|
| Period | Euro |
| Used | 1999 - present |
| Description | The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002. The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from several years to forever (the latter in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Estonia and Latvia for banknotes and coins; also, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Slovakia will accept banknotes forever, but not coins). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes remain exchangeable until 2022. |
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