20 Lire Gold 1862

Country Italy
Denomination 20 lire
Year 1862
Period King Vittorio Emanuele II (1861 - 1878)
Coin type Circulation coins
Ruler Vittorio Emanuele II
Composition Gold 0.900
Edge type Reeded
Shape Round
Alignment Coin (180°)
Weight (gr) 6.452
Diameter (mm) 21
Thickness (mm) 2.1

Description
The marengo d'oro, also called "Napoleon", is a gold coin with a value of 20 francs. It was minted for the first time in 1801 by the Subalpine Republic to celebrate the victory of Napoleon Bonaparte against the Austrians in the battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800. The history of the Italian marengo begins, in a certain sense, in 1861. In that year it began to be minted the Italian Lira which, with the integration in 1865 within the Latin Monetary Union, assumed the name of marengo in its 20 Lire version, substantially identical to the French "Napoleon", another name by which the marengo was called original. The Italian marengo is a historic currency of our country and was minted by the State mint from 1861 to 1923, albeit with a few years of interruption. Gold marengos subsequent to this last date are not legal tender and have been issued only for collectors. The Italian marenghi have on the obverse King Vittorio Emanuele II or King Umberto I, on the reverse the Savoy coat of arms surrounded by the collar of the Annunziata with laurel branches. Technically, the first Italian marengo, i.e. of the Kingdom of Italy, was indeed produced in 1861, but in addition to that of the Subalpine Republic, we note that the Duchy of Parma and the Kingdom of Sardinia had also produced golden marengos. For this reason we have the Italian marengo Carlo Felice and the golden marengo depicting Carlo Alberto of Savoy, father of Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy. The Italian marengo and therefore any gold marengo was produced with a weight of 6.45 grams, of which 5.80 grams in gold. The percentage of gold in the coin was 90%, therefore with a fineness of 900/1000. the diameter of the gold coin was instead 21 mm. The Italian marengo, the Swiss marengo, the French marengo, the Austrian marengo and the Belgian marengo were minted during the Latin Monetary Union for the free circulation in Europe of national coins having the same value.