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20000 Lire Debito Pubblico Italiano
| Issuer | Debito Pubblico Italiano (Italian Public Debt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1946 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori, Rome, Italy |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain pale paper reverse with a single large central guilloche medallion in grey-green intaglio, enclosing the numeral 20.000 in an oval cartouche surrounded by intricate lathe-work rosette patterns. A faint dry-seal impression of the Debito Pubblico appears at left, and a violet rectangular cancellation stamp of the Banco di Sicilia is applied at right. |
| Reverse lettering | 20.000 |
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| Comments |
The "Debito Pubblico Italiano" issues of 1946 were not conventional banknotes — they were promissory certificates tied to the postwar public debt consolidation, issued as part of Italy's effort to absorb the enormous liquidity overhang left by wartime Axis-era printing. The Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato had resumed civilian security printing almost immediately after liberation, and this high-denomination certificate reflects the inflationary scale of the period: 20,000 lire was a substantial sum in nominal terms, yet inflation had already gutted its real purchasing power before many examples even changed hands.
The series is less frequently encountered than the contemporaneous Banca d'Italia issues, partly because these debt instruments were redeemed through channels separate from normal banknote retirement.