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150 Lire Banca Popolare di Bergamo
| Issuer | Banca Popolare di Bergamo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976-1977 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue and brown tones, the obverse carries a left-centre architectural vignette of the Palazzo della Ragione and Torre Civica of Bergamo in fine detail. The header bears the issuer's name 'LA BANCA POPOLARE DI BERGAMO' in bold letterpress, with corporate registration particulars in small print below; to the right, the numeral '150' is set within a guilloche rosette. The central field contains the written denomination 'LIRE * centocinquanta ***', the beneficiary 'Associazione Artigiani di Bergamo', an issue date, and a facsimile signature at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LA BANCA POPOLARE DI BERGAMO SOCIETÀ COOPERATIVA A RESPONSABILITÀ LIMITATA - SEDE LEGALE E DIREZIONE GENERALE IN BERGAMO - TRIBUNALE DI BERGAMO REGISTRO SOCIETÀ N. 101 Pagherà a vista per questo assegno circolare Lit LIRE * centocinquanta *** a Associazione Artigiani di Bergamo BERGAMO 22-12-1976 BANCA POPOLARE DI BERGAMO SEDE DI BERGAMO |
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| Comments |
Italian law technically prohibited the issue of private emergency tokens and notes during the coin shortage of the early 1970s, but enforcement was uneven enough that hundreds of banks, businesses, and municipalities issued their own fiduciary substitutes anyway. Banca Popolare di Bergamo's 150 lire note belongs to that wave — one of the more unusual denominations to emerge from a period when 50 and 100 lire coins had effectively vanished from circulation, hoarded or consumed by vending machines faster than the Zecca could replace them.
The 150 lire face value is the tell. It was never a standard Italian denomination, and its existence reflects a practical retail calculation rather than any monetary authority's design.