1 Lira

The Comune di Venezia issued this note during the revolutionary Republic of San Marco — the short-lived Venetian state that declared independence from Austrian rule in March 1848 under Daniele Manin. Paper currency became an immediate necessity; the new government had no coin reserves and needed to pay troops, suppliers, and administrators from practically the first week of existence. These small-denomination notes were printed and circulated under genuine wartime pressure, not as a peacetime monetary convenience.

The Austrian siege lasted until August 1849. Many notes were redeemed, destroyed, or simply lost during the capitulation and subsequent reoccupation. The embossed seal was the primary — and rather minimal — anti-counterfeiting measure available to a government operating under blockade.