Catalog
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| Issuer | Istituto Centrale di Banche e Banchieri |
|---|---|
| Year | 1977 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 113 × 61 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ICBB - ISTITUTO CENTRALE DI BANCHE E BANCHIERI |
| Reverse description | The reverse is laid out in a predominantly rose-pink and cream palette, with a vertical guilloche band running along the left third of the note incorporating a central rosette vignette. The upper portion bears the endorsement panel headed 'GIRATE', with the logo and name of the countersigning institution Banca Rasini S.p.A. alongside a manuscript signature. The denomination is stated in full lettering 'VALE LIRE CENTOCINQUANTA', with the issuer's name 'ISTITUTO CENTRALE DI BANCHE E BANCHIERI' printed in bold across the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Istituto Centrale di Banche e Banchieri was a clearing and interbank settlement cooperative, not a central bank — it had no authority to issue legal tender. These 150 Lire notes were produced in 1977 as emergency fiduciary substitutes during Italy's chronic small-denomination coin shortage, a crisis that had persisted in various forms since the early 1970s when rising metal prices caused coins to disappear from circulation almost entirely. Shops, transit systems, and private institutions filled the gap with their own substitute scrip, all operating in a legal grey zone that the Banca d'Italia ultimately tolerated out of practical necessity.
The Istituto's notes were accepted within specific banking networks rather than universally, which kept actual circulation volumes low and attrition high.