Catalog
1 Lira
| Issuer | Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869-1873 |
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| Reference(s) | P#W-BNR-1 |
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| Obverse lettering | BANCA NAZIONALE NEL REGNO D'ITALIA UNA LIRA CONTROLLORE - CASSIERE CREAZIONE 17 LUGLIO 1872 UNA La legge punisce col maximum dei lavori forzati a tempo i fabbricatori di biglietti falsi, quelli che falsificassero i biglietti della Banca Nazionale e coloro che introducessero nello Stato biglietti falsi o falsificati. (Translation: NATIONAL BANK IN THE KINGDOM OF ITALY ONE LIRA CONTROLLER - CASHIER CREATION 17 JULY 1872 ONE The law punishes the makers of counterfeit banknotes, those who counterfeit National Bank banknotes and those who introduce false or falsified banknotes into the State with a maximum of fixed-term forced labor.) |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia was itself a provisional institution — Italy had unified only in 1861, and the country still lacked a single central bank, with several regional banks of issue operating simultaneously throughout this period. This 1 Lira note belongs to the fractional currency that effectively replaced small silver coinage hoarded by a public with no faith in the new state's finances.
Dondorf & Naumann were primarily known for playing cards and chromolithographic work; their banknote commissions were a secondary business, and Italian authorities turned to Frankfurt partly because domestic printing infrastructure for secure currency was still underdeveloped in the early Kingdom.