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150 Lire Cassa di Risparmio di Biella
| Issuer | Cassa di Risparmio di Biella |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain salmon-toned reverse with a light guilloche ground. An oval cartouche at the top bears the restrictive legend IL PRESENTE ASSEGNO PUÒ CIRCOLARE SOLTANTO IN ITALIA, below which the word GIRATE appears in an elongated oval frame indicating the endorsement area. The endorsement of the Associazione Commercianti del Biellese, with a handwritten signature, is applied in the upper portion of the otherwise blank girate field. |
| Reverse lettering | IL PRESENTE ASSEGNO PUÒ CIRCOLARE SOLTANTO IN ITALIA GIRATE ASSOCIAZIONE COMMERCIANTI DEL BIELLESE |
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| Comments |
Biella's savings bank issued this 150 lire note in 1976 as an emergency fractional substitute — a fiduciario, or trust note — during the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Italy through much of the 1970s. The Banca d'Italia had effectively authorized local savings institutions to plug the gap with their own printed scrip, a stopgap that resulted in dozens of distinct regional issues circulating simultaneously across the country.
The Officina Carte Valori Istituti Lombardi in Milan handled production for several of these institutional issues, bringing a degree of anti-counterfeiting sophistication to what were essentially local convenience tokens. The 150 lire denomination itself is a creature of inflation — no such denomination had existed in standard Italian coinage.