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250 Lire Banca Popolare di Bergamo
| Issuer | Banca Popolare di Bergamo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976-1977 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 250 Lire (250 ITL) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Miniassegno (mini-cheque) printed in brown on a blue and pink/magenta guilloche underprint. A vignette of the bank's principal building appears at left, with the serial number printed in black at lower left. The text of the circular cheque order, including the payee Associazione Artigiani di Bergamo and the authorising signature, is set in letterpress across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | GIRATE ASSOCIAZIONE ARTIGIANI DI BERGAMO Il Presidente VALE 250 LIRE IL PRESENTE ASSEGNO PUÒ CIRCOLARE SOLTANTO IN ITALIA |
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| Comments |
Italian emergency small-change tokens — the so-called miniassegni — proliferated in the mid-1970s after a severe coin shortage left retailers and banks unable to make change. The Banca Popolare di Bergamo was among hundreds of issuing institutions that printed these quasi-negotiable instruments, technically structured as bearer cheques to sidestep the legal restrictions on private note issue. The 250 Lire denomination corresponded roughly to the value of coins that had effectively vanished from circulation, hoarded or diverted into slot machine and telephone token markets.
Marco Spada & C. handled a significant volume of miniassegni printing for various northern Italian institutions during this period.