Italian lira

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Italian lira
Vittorio Emanuele II: 1 Italian lira 1863

The lira (plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 1999. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a "national subunit" of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in lira, as no euro coins and notes were 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 Troy 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, the words lira and pound are used as equivalents. L, sometimes in a double-crossed script form (₤), was usually used as the symbol. It was subdivided into 100 centesimi.

History

In 1807, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy (occupying the north of the current state) introduced the lira as its currency. Equal to the French franc, it was divided into 20 soldi or 100 centesimi. This lira circulated until 1814 when the kingdom was divided up into smaller states.

Upon the creation of the Kingdom of Italy under Vittorio Emanuele II (1861), a unified lira was established, at 4.5 grams of silver, as part of the Latin Monetary Union. This was a direct continuation of the Sardinian lira. Other currencies replaced by the Italian lira included the Lombardy-Venetia florin, the Two Sicilies piastra, the Tuscan fiorino, the Papal States scudo and the Parman lira.

World War I broke the Latin Monetary Union, and resulted in prices rising severalfold in Italy. Inflation was curbed somewhat by Mussolini, who, on August 18, 1926, declared that the exchange rate between lira and pound would be £1 = 90 lire, although the free exchange rate had been closer to 140-150 lire per pound. Inflation once again resurged during World War II, and during the post-War era, several episodes of high inflation continued its erosion, until it was replaced by the Euro.

The lira was the official unit of currency in Italy until January 1, 1999, when it was replaced by the euro (euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). Old lira denominated currency ceased to be legal tender on February 28 2002. The conversion rate was 1936.27 lire to the euro.[link]

Coins

• 5 lire (0.258 cents; rarely used)
• 10 lire (0.52 cents; rarely used)
• 20 lire (1.03 cents; rarely used)
• 50 lire (2.58 cents)
• 100 lire (5.16 cents)
• 200 lire (10.29 cents)
• 500 lire (25.82 cents)
• 1,000 lire (51.65 cents)

Banknotes

• 1,000 lire, Maria Montessori, (€ 0.517; rarely used)

2000 lira with portrait of Guglielmo Marconi