Owner Comments:
I found myself looking at NGC-graded and raw Italian coins on eBay in early Nov 2021. I'd been trying to spark more interest in the hobby with her and find ways to share it with her. We’d been looking at groups of RAW Zimbabwean coins together and enjoying that and I wanted a way to continue that momentum.
My wife lived in Italy for about 3 years as a child from about 1991 to 1993. She always talks fondly about Italy and wanting to go back there. So getting some Italian coins and making some Italian registry sets - maybe of the same coins she would have seen as a child - seemed like a good way to do that.
I found a seller offering some higher grade 50 Lire, 100 Lire, 200 Lire and 500 Lire coins - mostly from our birth year or years close to it - coins of the same types they brought back home with them in a bag as mementos - for sale at reasonable-ish prices. The starting bid prices were kind of high but tolerable given the grades.
I decided the prices were worth it to snap these up, start these sets, and turn them into a love letter to my wife. I managed to win this 1986 50 Lire and a 1982 500 L - both MS68s - for $33-41 each, after shipping - no one bid against me lol. That started 2 new registry sets in two categories that I think may have been new to 2021.
And so this set was born!