Coin minting began in 1864 and was interrupted in 1938. A political and diplomatic course, in bilateral agreement with Italy, led to the issue of the first 'modern' lira of the Republic in 1972.
The subject of the stamp is the reverse of the first 500 lire silver coin, minted in 1972, based on models by master Giacomo Manzù and centred on a delicate, modern and ancestral Maternity, a bridge between past and future and a universal symbol of the value of life.