5 Lire - Victor Emmanuel III

Italy's 5 Lire silver coinage of this period exists in direct tension with the regime's own economic policies. Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia triggered League of Nations sanctions, prompting the government to launch a public campaign in which citizens were urged to donate gold wedding rings and other precious metal to the state in exchange for iron replacements. That the Zecca continued striking silver circulation coinage through this period — and into the early war years — reflects the gap between Fascist propaganda and monetary reality.

The series ends abruptly in 1941 as wartime metal demands finally forced silver out of Italian circulation coinage entirely.