Catalog
1500 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Scudo (1534-1835) |
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| Obverse description | Typeset letterpress cedola printed entirely in black ink on plain paper, enclosed within a decorative border composed of repeated ornamental units. The institutional name 'S. MONTE DELLA PIETA DI ROMA' appears in large capitals at centre, with the promise to pay the bearer 1500 Roman Scudi at ten giulj per Scudo set in formal Roman type below; the denomination 'Millecinquecento' is rendered in bold relief within a central panel. Manuscript annotations recording the date, serial number, and register notations are inscribed above and around the printed text, consistent with period Papal States cedola practice. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 1500 |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest pious credit institutions in Europe, established in 1539 specifically to provide low-interest loans to the poor and undercut the usurers. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into a quasi-banking operation under direct papal oversight, issuing cedole — large-denomination paper instruments that functioned more like notarial debt certificates than circulating currency. A 1500 Scudi cedola was not something passing through market stalls; it moved between institutions, wealthy merchants, and the Roman ecclesiastical establishment.
The entire series was wiped out financially when French forces occupied Rome in 1798 and the institution was effectively dismantled under the Roman Republic.