Catalog
100 Lire Banco Di Napoli
| Issuer | Banco di Napoli |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Size | 175 × 98 mm |
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| Obverse description | Dark intaglio-printed note framed by an elaborate guilloche border enclosing the full composition. A finely engraved portrait vignette of a bearded Renaissance-era male figure in period dress with a ruffled collar occupies the left panel, while the central field carries the denomination LIRE CENTO in bold letterpress beneath the issuer title BANCO DI NAPOLI at the top, accompanied by the bearer clause PAGABILI A VISTA AL PORTATORE and legal decree references. Two handwritten signatures appear above a red circular stamp, with serial numbers and prefix letters positioned at upper right and lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO DI NAPOLI LIRE 100 CENTO LA LEGGE PUNISCE I FABBRICATORI E GLI SPACCIATORI DI BIGLIETTI FALSI DECRETO MINISTERIALE DEL 30 LUGLIO 1896 |
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| Comments |
Banco di Napoli was not a central bank but a southern Italian istituto di emissione — one of several regional banks still legally permitted to issue currency under the 1893 banking law that created the Banca d'Italia. That law was supposed to consolidate Italian note issue, but political resistance from Naples ensured the Banco retained its emission rights well into the twentieth century. This 1914 issue appeared just as that arrangement was entering its final phase; emission rights for the southern institutes were progressively curtailed after the First World War.
Richter & C. was a Naples-based security printer with deep roots in southern Italian fiscal printing, which made local production the obvious choice rather than engagement with the northern engraving houses.