Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
42 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed cedola (bill of credit) in black ink on plain paper, with an ornate engraved border enclosing the text. The denomination numeral '42' appears in a decorative typeset cartouche at the top centre, flanked by repeated guilloche-style ornamental devices. The main body carries the full text of the obligation in period italic and roman typefaces, with the word 'Quarantadue' (forty-two) emphasised in a larger script typeface at centre. Manuscript annotations, a handwritten date, the cashier's name 'Venanzio Fedeli', register entry, and an oval validation stamp appear in the margins and body of the note, as was customary for Sacro Monte della Pietà cedole. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 42 SETTE GENNARO MILLE SETTECENTO OTTANTOTTO S. MONTE DELLA PIETA' DI ROMA La presente Cedola vale Scudi Romani Quarantadue da giulj Dieci per Scudo da pagarsi all' Esibitore Registro 4.88 Num. Quaranta Vaglia per tutto lo STATO ECCLESIASTICO SACRO MONTE DELLA PIETA DI ROMA |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was among the oldest functioning credit institutions in Europe by the late eighteenth century, chartered in 1539 specifically to provide low-interest loans to the poor as a counter to usury — a mission that gave it unusual protection from papal interference and extraordinary longevity. Its fedi di credito, of which this 42 Scudi example is one, functioned essentially as assignable bearer instruments: written promises backed by deposited pledges, circulating among merchants and creditors who trusted the institution's centuries of solvency over the volatility of coin.
The 42 Scudi denomination is irregular by any modern banking logic, almost certainly reflecting the face value of a specific pledged deposit rather than a standardized issue. Handwritten completion of amounts and dates was routine for this series.