Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
100 Lire Cassa di Risparmio di Biella
| Issuer | Cassa di Risparmio di Biella |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Lire (100 ITL) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Light blue miniassegno of cheque format with a dense guilloche underprint incorporating the words CASSA DI RISPARMIO and BIELLA in large watermark-style letters across the centre. The issuer's name appears in a bold rectangular banner at the top, below which SEDE CENTRALE is inscribed. A circular fiscal stamp (Imposta Bollo Virtuale, authorized by Intendenza di Finanza di Vercelli, No. 20055 del 4-8-1973) is affixed to the left. The denomination CENTO is printed in large green letterpress type, with asterisks serving as security fillers, and the payee line reads all'ordine CONFESERCENTI – Biella, countersigned at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Biella, li 10 dicembre 1976 L. 100* CASSA DI RISPARMIO DI BIELLA SEDE CENTRALE A vista pagate per questo Assegno Bancario Lire CENTO * * * * * * * * all'ordine CONFESERCENTI – Biella CONFESERCENTI – BIELLA C/C N. 311050 N. 12785579 OFF. CARTE VALORI TURATI LOMBARDI E C. – MILANO |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Cassa di Risparmio di Biella was one of dozens of northern Italian savings banks that issued low-denomination emergency token notes — fedi di credito — during the severe coin shortage of the mid-1970s. Italy's small-change crisis was acute enough that telephone tokens, candy, and postage stamps were routinely used as substitutes for coins in everyday transactions. These bank-issued notes were a more formal solution, but their legal status was always ambiguous, and the Bank of Italy tolerated rather than sanctioned them.
The Turati Lombardi press in Milan handled much of this emergency printing work across multiple issuing institutions. The fiscal stamp is what gave individual notes their validated, transaction-ready status.