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!
50 Lire Buoi
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Lire (50 ITL) |
| 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 | At right, a seated allegorical figure of Italia rendered in intaglio, helmeted and holding an olive branch, with a shield at her side; the central field is dominated by a large white oval watermark window at left, flanked by ornate guilloche borders with floral and foliate motifs. A circular red medallion vignette appears in the upper centre above the main title inscription, and the denomination numeral '50' is repeated in the corners within decorative cartouches. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Decreto ministeriale del 30 luglio 1896 La legge punisce i fabbricatori e gli spacciatori di biglietti falsi |
| 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 "Buoi" nickname — Italian for oxen — comes from the agricultural vignette on the reverse, an unusual choice for a wartime note from a central bank under enormous fiscal pressure. Banca d'Italia was printing heavily throughout this period to fund Italy's participation in the First World War, and the 50 Lire denomination circulated hard. Giovanni Capranesi was a prolific designer for the Officina della Banca d'Italia; his work on this series reflects the institution's preference for keeping production entirely in-house rather than contracting foreign security printers, as some smaller European central banks were forced to do.
The signature run is exceptionally long — sixteen dated issues across five years, with Stringher and Sacchi bookending the series either side of a brief Canovai period in 1919. Bonaldo Stringher was Governor from 1900 to 1930, one of the longest tenures in the bank's history.