Catalog
20 Centesimi Comune di Trieste
| Issuer | Comune di Trieste |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1947 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 70 × 45 mm |
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| Obverse description | Blue letterpress on cream paper within a decorative rope-and-scroll border with ornamental corner squares. The central field carries a fine radiating guilloche underprint over which the municipal authority inscription 'COMUNE DI TRIESTE' appears at the top in capital letters, with 'BUONO DA 20 CENTESIMI' in large bold type below. To the right, the circular medieval seal of Trieste bears a walled castle vignette above the Latin legend 'TERGESTUM' with surrounding Gothic inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COMUNE DI TRIESTE BUONO DA 20 CENTESIMI |
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| Comments |
Trieste's postwar municipal small-change notes were a direct consequence of the Allied Military Government administration that controlled the city after May 1945 — metal coinage was essentially absent, and the comune stepped in to fill the gap with locally printed fractional paper. The Smolars printing house in Trieste handled production, making this a genuinely local issue in every sense: designed, printed, and circulated within the same contested city.
Trieste's political ambiguity during this period — claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia, administered by the Allies — meant these notes existed in a monetary grey zone, accepted by local merchants more by habit than by any firm legal framework.