very much like ITC Willow.

That must be it. Although the A in the example I have doesn't have a double crossbar. Thanks for solving it defiantone!

There may be other fonts, other versions, or some with alternates. You only posted 4 letters. If your sample has additional characters, how are we expected to match them if you don't provide them? - Herb

It looks a lot like the classic '20s and '30s Italian art deco typeface.
The word itself makes sense in Italian, "lire"... was it taken from some poster?
You see what I mean? http://www.chimica.unipd.it/gianfranco.scorrano/pubblica/chimica/Il%20ma...
That been said... I don't have an exact match with a font type.

The "E" is exactly the same in FLLW Eaglefeather
http://www.p22.com/products/flwfa.html

Also Mostra Nuova?
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/marksimonson/mostra-nuova

also:
Desdemona http://www.identifont.com/show?1N7
Quaint Gothic SG http://www.identifont.com/show?4IX
Gradl No. 1 http://www.identifont.com/show?63T

If you don't mind some tiny soft rounded serifs, Carouselambra might be a good alternative, even including the interlocked "L-I" ligature.

The other letters are overlaying a background image at about 20% opacity. I didn't think they would be very helpful. To get these four letters I had to bring them in to photoshop and crank up the contrast and invert the layer. All of these other suggestions are great. Thanks everyone for the help.