110 Scudi

The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest lending institutions in the Papal States, founded in the late sixteenth century to provide credit to the poor and undercut usurious moneylenders. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into something closer to a quasi-public bank, and its fedi di credito — bearer credit instruments of which this 110 Scudi note is an example — functioned as circulating paper currency in all but name.

The denomination itself is telling. Round figures suggest convenience; odd ones like 110 Scudi typically reflect the face value of an underlying deposit or loan obligation being securitized into transferable form. These notes were handwritten or partially printed with manuscript completions, and their validity depended on the signatures of Monte officials rather than any central printing authority.

Within three years of this note's issue, French forces under Napoleon would occupy Rome and dissolve the Papal financial apparatus entirely.