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20 Scudi
| Issuer | S. Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1797 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse printed entirely in black letterpress, with the denomination repeated multiple times across the surface in a regular grid pattern alternating between the numeral 20 and the word VENTI in bold type, serving as a security underprint against counterfeiting. A large circular official dry seal impression is visible at lower left. Numerous manuscript endorsements and signatures in ink are scattered across the field. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Large circular official dry embossed seal of the S. Monte della Pietà di Roma applied to the reverse; multiple handwritten manuscript endorsements and registry notations applied to both sides as authentication controls. |
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| Comments |
The Monte di Pietà in Rome was one of the oldest pawnbroking institutions in Europe, established in the fifteenth century under papal patronage to provide credit to the poor as an alternative to moneylenders. By 1797 it had long since evolved into something closer to a deposit bank, issuing fedi di credito — faith notes — that circulated among merchants and the papal administration alike. These were not mass-produced currency in any modern sense; each note was individually written or completed by hand, registered, and authenticated.
1797 is a precarious year for any Roman issue. Napoleon's forces were pressing into the Papal States, and the Papal Treasury was under severe strain — the Treaty of Tolentino in February of that year stripped Pius VI of significant territories and an enormous financial indemnity. Notes like this circulated in a city that knew it was losing economic ground rapidly.
The dry seal and manuscript endorsements are functional, not decorative — each endorsement reflects a transfer of ownership, making a surviving example a minor ledger of whoever held it.