Well, perhaps not “issued.” Try “sold,” at US$5 or the equivalent apiece. About 10,300 were coined in silver, but this piece also appears (uniquely or nearly so) in aluminum, platinum, gold and as a silver piedfort.
This piece is 30mm in diameter and its 12.50g of .900 silver is identical to that of a contemporary American half-dollar. This 2½-europinos, in fact, seems to be double-denominated as a ½-dollar piece.
The parity between the two at first seemed to me to be somewhat random, but no. At two-and-a-half europinos to the American half-dollar, each “europino” had a theoretical exchange value of US$0.20, which made it the equivalent of the old franc/frank/franco/lira/drachma of the Latin Monetary Union.
Five-star General Eisenhower—his five stars are below his portrait—began 1952 as NATO’s Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe; he ended the year as President-elect of the United States.
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