May 04
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Albania is a fascinating country in south west of Europe. It's people's have had a long and interesting history. For hundreds of years Albania came under Turkish Ottoman rule and before that was settled by ancient Greeks. It has produced coins from ancient times. In more recent years, it was a sovereign state under the self proclaimed King Zog. It briefly was occupied by Italy until it became a communist state under dictator Enver Hoxha. The country was noted in Europe for being extremely poor, but then came the death of Hoxha and then the fall of the Soviet Union. Since then, the country is on the up and enjoying new prosperity. This fine Albanian coin which is one of my favourites. It was minted during the reign of King Zog in 1931 and it is denominated as '1 Lek'. It carries the mint mark 'L' which corresponds to London. It is made of nickel. It weighs in at 8.000g and has a diameter of 26.7mm. On the obverse is featured a bust of Albanian national hero, Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg lived from 1405-1468 and was known as the 'Dragon of Albania'. Through the work of his biographer, Marin Barleti, he is remembered for his struggle against the Ottoman Empire, whose armies he successfully ousted from his native land for more than two decades. The obverse also features the legend Shqipni, which is the Albanian name for the country. The reverse features an Albanian horseman, sword aloft in full charge. Below the figure is the date of mintage and mint mark. I for one think it is a beautiful coin. [editor's notes: May's coin of the month article was submitted by kaija. I'm really happy with the suggestion as the 1 Lek from this era is a cool looking coin. The L mint mark on this coin is for London, England. Also since kaija's coin of the month article was chosen, we have have a winner for the coin of the month contest. Congratulations kaija!] |