Catalog
10 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1785 |
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| Size | 204 × 150 mm |
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| Obverse description | Typeset text note issued by the Sacro Monte della Pietà in Rome, with letterpress inscription stating the obligation to pay the bearer ten Roman scudi. The text is arranged in a formal documentary layout typical of late 18th-century papal financial instruments, with handwritten date, serial notation, and authorizing signatures completing the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse with multiple letterpress denomination overprints arranged in five positions across the note, each reading «DIECI» (ten) over «IO» in bold blocked type framed by horizontal rule lines. The cross-fold crease pattern is visible, and faint show-through of the obverse text is discernible through the paper. |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was a papal pawnbroking institution, founded in 1539, that issued its own paper obligations long before most European states had formalized banknote systems. These notes functioned as negotiable receipts against deposited collateral — a hybrid between a pawn ticket and a bearer instrument — and circulated among merchants and institutions in Rome who trusted the Monte's backing by the Apostolic Chamber.
By the 1780s the Monte was operating under increasing fiscal strain as the broader finances of the Papal States deteriorated. Notes from this period are genuinely scarce; many were redeemed or destroyed as the institution's role contracted sharply following the French occupation of 1798.