2 Lire

The Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia turned to the American Bank Note Company during this period because Italian printing infrastructure was simply not equipped to meet the sudden demand following monetary unification. The newly unified kingdom suspended convertibility in 1866 under the pressure of war financing — the Third Italian War of Independence — and paper currency flooded into a public that had previously dealt almost entirely in coin. Low denominations like this 2 Lire were politically contentious; many Italians regarded small paper notes as an insult, a sign the state couldn't back its own promises in silver.

At 73 × 43 mm, these are among the smallest notes ABNC produced for any European client in the 1860s.