Claim: Papal lira was devalued by Giacomo Antonelli and later replaced by the Italian lira which is subdivided into less than 60 coins.
Evidence: In 1866 Pope Pius IX, whose temporal domain had been reduced to only the province of Latium, decided to join the Latin Monetary Union. However, the Pope's treasurer, Giacomo Antonelli, devalued the purity of the Papal coins from 900/1000 to 835/1000, causing big problems for the Union, which later was forced to adopt the new standard. With the annexation of Rome to Italy in 1870, the Papal lira was replaced by the Italian lira at par. Coins still being minted for circulation at the time of the changeover to euro (in 2000 and 2001 only lire for collectors coins sets were minted) were: 1 lira (0.05 cents, only for collectors) 2 lire (0.10 cents, only for collectors) 5 lire (0.26 cents, only for collectors) 10 lire (0.52 cents, only for collectors) 20 lire (1.03 cents, only for collectors) 50 lire (2.58 cents) 100 lire (5.16 cents) 200 lire (10.33 cents) 500 lire (25.82 cents) 1,000 lire (51.65 cents)