1939 Albania Lek And 2 Lek Coins

@chequer, hmm interesting question. In my Krause, it does state that there are two varieties, one magnetic and one non-magnetic. It is silent on the possibility of a third, weakly magnetic variety.

Depending on your level of interest with metallurgy, you can find loads of information on the interwebs; but in a nutshell, the amount of nickel in an alloy of stainless steel can change the crystal structure of the metal to being more or less magnetic. I wonder if the variation in strength of magnetic attraction that you are finding with your lek hoard is due to slight differences in alloy. These coins were made during the Italian occupation during WWII and it wouldn't surprise me if those workers at the mint had other things on their mind besides minting coins to the exactly correct specifications. Perhaps the two varieties exist due to difficulties finding consistent feeder stock and there was some amount of transition between the two shipments. Another possibility is that since the amount of cold working can change that crystal structure, it could be that specific coins have been worked more (either while being minted or else as PMD).

Or, I could be totally wrong about all this and there were actually three different variations of these coins...

The Rome Mint's "non-magnetic" stainless steel, Acmonital, in common with other such alloys, can be made weakly ferromagnetic in the process of working it. Probably these "slightly magnetic" examples were handled a bit differently.