Catalog
1 Lira
| Issuer | Consorzio Obbligatorio fra gli Istituti di Emissione (Consortium of Issuing Banks) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876-1881 |
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| Currency | Lira (1861-2001) |
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| Obverse description | The face is arranged in a two-colour guilloche underprint — a light green ornamental vignette at centre and a matching encircled numeral 1 at left, both printed in transparency beneath the principal black letterpress text. A second encircled numeral 1 appears at right in light brown, bearing the denomination within its ring. Series numbers are placed at upper left and lower right, while serial numbers occupy the upper right and lower left corners. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 1 LIRA 1 La legge punisce i fabbricatori di biglietti falsi, chi li introduce e li usa nel Regno e chi, avendoli ricevuti per veri, li rimette in circolazione dopo conosciutane la falsità. (Translation: 1 LIRA 1 The law punishes the makers of counterfeit banknotes, those who introduce and use them in the Kingdom and those who, having received them as genuine, put them back into circulation after having discovered their falsity.) |
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| Comments |
The Consorzio Obbligatorio was a short-lived administrative arrangement forced on Italy's competing regional banks of issue — Banca Nazionale, Banca Toscana, and others — when the government needed a unified mechanism to back small-denomination paper following the suspension of silver convertibility. This 1 Lira was the kind of note the public distrusted on sight: too small, too fragile, and standing in for coin that had vanished into hoarding. Survival rates are accordingly poor, as heavy handling destroyed most examples within years of issue.