Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1943. Estimate $20000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $32000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Kingdom. Vittorio Emanuele III. 1900-1946. AR 5 Lire (24.98 g, 6h). Rome mint. Dated 1901. Speranza, sculptor. VITTORIO EMANUELE III, bare head right, SPERANZA below / REGNO D'ITALIA, crowned displayed eagle; L.5 R 1901 below. Edge: FERT repeated three times with ornaments. Mintage: 114. Pagani 706; KM 34. Near EF, handling marks and small edge nicks. ($20,000)

The first silver crown of Vittorio Emanuele was not officially released to circulation; only a reported 114 specimens were handed out to government officials and friends and relations of the royal family. The present example was in the possession of a descendant of the House of Savoy, and was apparently carried as a pocket piece for a number of years as a memento of the royal family.