3 Euro Ecco l'Euro; Fiesole/Pontassieve

This note is one of the more self-aware novelty issues of the pre-euro period. The joint issue by two Tuscan comuni — Fiesole and Pontassieve — was part of a broader wave of Italian municipal "fantasy euro" notes produced in 1997, ahead of the single currency's 1999 launch, primarily as collectibles and local promotional instruments. None carried legal tender status.

What separates this from most of the run: the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato — the same Rome facility responsible for printing official Italian banknotes and postage stamps — handled production, giving it genuine security paper and a watermark that most municipal fantasy issues entirely lacked.