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1000 Lire 'grande M' Fascio - 1st type
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1932 |
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| Currency | Lira (1861-2001) |
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| Obverse description | The centre of the note is dominated by the large ornate intaglio-engraved letter 'M' of 'MILLE LIRE', flanked by a fasces vignette to the left and a circular watermark window to the right, all within an elaborate guilloche border with allegorical figures at the corners. The bank title 'BANCA D'ITALIA' and the denomination 'MILLE LIRE' are inscribed in bold letterpress across the centre field, with the legend 'PAGABILE A VISTA AL PORTATORE' below. Two signatures of the Governatore and Cassiere appear beneath the central text, with the denomination numeral '1000' repeated in each corner medallion. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Plain circular watermark area visible on both obverse and reverse |
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| Comments |
The 'grande M' designation — a collector's shorthand for the large decorative M in the watermark — distinguishes this 1st-type issue from later revisions in the same 1000 Lire series. Barbetti designed and Ballarini engraved several of the major Banca d'Italia issues of this period, and their collaboration produced work of genuine technical refinement within Italian intaglio printing of the 1920s.
The signature progression across six date variants tells its own institutional story: Bonaldo Stringher, the formidable long-serving Governor who had steered the Banca through the lira stabilization crisis of 1926–27, died in December 1930. Vincenzo Azzolini's single dated variant — 02.01.1932 — marks the transition cleanly. High-denomination notes of this issue circulated through the Fascist regime's early consolidation years, when the "Quota 90" policy artificially revalued the lira against sterling, with considerable economic disruption.