Description
Benito Mussolini was the first modern strongman—the very model of a Fascist dictator, whose cult of personality, propaganda techniques, nationalistic messaging, and propensity for violence inspired future despots from Adolf Hitler to Vladimir Putin. He became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and held the post until 1943, and ”Il Duce“ of his Fascist movement until his execution in 1945. This coin shows the portrait of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, but the regnal year is Mussolini’s. The eagle and the fasces are also his symbols.