Catalog
100 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1792 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Scudi |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 100 CENTO (Translation: One hundred.) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Two embossed blind-stamp seals applied to the reverse as authentication controls; manuscript date, register number, and countersignatures added by hand on the obverse to validate each individual cedola. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was a papal pawnbroking institution, not a bank in any modern sense — it issued cedole, interest-bearing certificates of deposit backed by pledged collateral, rather than currency intended for general circulation. These notes functioned closer to negotiable receipts than to banknotes, circulating among merchants and creditors who trusted the institution's centuries-old papal backing over the volatile coinage of the day.
By 1792, the Papal States were under considerable financial strain, with revolutionary pressures already destabilizing the peninsula. The embossed dry stamp and manuscript entries are characteristic of the cedole format — each note was individually completed by hand, making mass forgery difficult but also ensuring no two examples are identical in their written details.