32 Scudi

The Monte di Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest functioning pawnbroking institutions in Europe, founded in 1539 under papal auspices to provide low-interest loans to the poor as an alternative to moneylenders. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into something closer to a deposit bank, and its fedi di credito — of which this is one — functioned as transferable credit certificates rather than conventional banknotes. The 32 Scudi denomination is an odd one, suggesting this was issued against a specific pledged amount rather than produced in a round-figure series.

These instruments circulated primarily among merchants and institutions in Rome who trusted the Monte's papal backing. The French occupation of Rome in 1798 effectively ended the institution's independent operations.