Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Lekë 1990 Summer Olympic Games, Essai
| Issuer | Albania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIKA POPULLORE SOCIALISTE E SHQIPËRISE 10 LEKË 1990 (Translation: People's Socialist Republic of Albania) |
| Reverse description | Central field displays a bold high-relief equestrian scene depicting a jockey mounted on a galloping racehorse moving to the left, rendered in a dynamic sculptural style. The circular legend ALBANIA - LOJRAT XXV OLIMPIKE TE BARCELONES curves along the upper portion of the periphery, with the date 1992 and the city name BARCELONES completing the inscription in the lower field. The design commemorates Albania's participation in the Games of the XXV Olympiad held in Barcelona in 1992. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Albania issued a series of Olympic-themed commemorative coins in 1990 while still under Enver Hoxha's successor Ramiz Alia, a period when the regime was beginning to crack under the pressure of mass emigration and internal dissent — within a year, the country would abandon single-party rule entirely. The essai designation indicates a pattern or trial strike produced for submission or archival purposes rather than general release, a practice common among French-influenced minting traditions that Albania followed through this period.
Surviving essais from this issue are genuinely scarce; most known examples trace back to the Paris Mint's own records or early dispersals to specialist dealers.