20 Lire Trial Strike

San Marino's monetary relationship with Italy required periodic bilateral agreements to authorize coinage, and the early 1970s saw the republic negotiating expanded minting rights. Trial strikes from this period were produced at the Rome Mint to test dies and establish production parameters before official issue approval — meaning most never entered circulation by design, not attrition.

The .986 fineness is notably purer than the .835 silver common to Italian issues of the same period.