Coins and Historical Medals

A printed Proclamation by Napoleone, per la grazia di Dio e per le Costituzioni, Imperatore de’ Francesi, Re d’Italia e Protettore della Confederazione del Reno, 12 January 1807, on behalf of the Ministro delle Finanze and by an Order of 21 March 1806, authorising the circulation of coins in the name of the new Regno d’Italia and bearing the head of Napoleon in 11 different denominations, these coins and their edge types engraved on the lower part of the Proclamation, Stamperia Reale, Milano, 59 x 45cm (cf. DNW 165, 521). Extremely fine and free of foxing £400-£600

The Kingdom of Italy was established by Napoleon on 17 March 1805, with the Emperor being crowned in Milan on 26 May that year. In practice a dependency of the French Empire, the kingdom was given a new national currency, the lira, based on the same size, weight and metal as the French franc. An Imperial decree of 21 March 1806 listed the new denominations, although only those in copper were struck at the three mints, Bologna, Milan and Venice, in 1807, together with a small quantity of the new gold 40 lire at Milan. From 1808 coins in all three metals were issued