The lira (: ''lire'') was the currency of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

between August 6, 1816, and March 17, 1861.

History

It was subdivided into 100 ''centesimi'' (singular ''centesimo'') and was equal in value to the

French franc The franc (; , ; currency sign, sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amoun ...

(4.5

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...

s of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

), which had previously been used as the currency of the Kingdom of Sardinia, having replaced the Piedmontese scudo by 1801. Since the Sardinian lira was little more than another version of the French franc, it could circulate also in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and the French coins could circulate in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

(the mainland part of the Kingdom of Sardinia). The Sardinian lira was replaced at par by the

Italian lira The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different s ...

in 1861, as a consequence of the process of

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

. Similar to the majority of 19th century currencies, the Sardinian lira was not affected by significant episodes of

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

during all its existence.

Coins

In 1816, King

Victor Emmanuel I Victor Emmanuel I (; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy, King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard states from 4 June 1802 until his reign ended in 1821 upon abdication due to a liberal revolution. Shortly thereafter, hi ...

issued silver £5 and gold £20 coins. Before his abdication in 1821, he also issued a new gold £80 coin. King Charles Felix followed in 1821 and 1822 minting gold £40 and £80, respectively. He also expanded the new currency in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

which, not having been conquered by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, had retained its Sardinian scudo. Silver c.50, £1 and £2 were added in 1823, followed by copper c.1, c.3 and c.5 in 1826, and silver c.25 in 1829. Finally, King Charles Albert added new gold £10, £50 and £100 in 1832, while King

Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March ...

continued his father's coinage. On each coin, the ruling monarch was styled in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as ''King of Sardinia, Cyprus and Jerusalem by the Grace of God'' on the front side, and ''Duke of Savoy, Genoa and Montferrat, Prince of Piedmont et cetera'' on the back side.

History

Coins

See also

Further reading