Catalog
10 Lire Italian occupation
| Issuer | Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per il Sudan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | At left, an oval vignette encloses a classical bust portrait of Emperor Augustus rendered in intaglio, set against a fine guilloche underprint across the central field. The denomination is expressed in stylised italic script as "Dieci" over "LIRE EG.", with an ornate blank cartouche framed by scrollwork at right. Bilingual inscriptions in Italian and Arabic run throughout, enclosed within a decorative foliate border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CASSA MEDITERRANEA DI CREDITO PER IL SVDAN صندوق البحر المتوسط التسليفي للسودان BVONO PER Dieci LIRE EG. هذا السند يسوى عشرة مليمات مصرية IL PRESENTE BVONO DEVE ESSERE ACCETTATO IN PAGAMENTO PER IL SVO VALORE NOMINALE ١٠ |
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| Comments |
The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito was not a bank in any conventional sense — it was a purpose-built occupation finance mechanism, deployed by Italy to manage currency in conquered territories without formally integrating them into the lira zone. The Sudan series was prepared in 1940 following Italy's push into British-held East Africa, anticipating administrative control that never solidified. Notes were printed and held ready; actual circulation was limited and geographically patchy.
The printer, IPZS, was the Italian state's own production house — no outsourcing, no commercial security printers. That institutional chain matters: these notes were a government-to-government instrument from the start, not a commercial banking product dressed in colonial clothing.