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300 Lire Banca Sella
| Issuer | Banca Sella |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is laid out in the style of a miniassegno, with a decorative guilloche-patterned border in red-brown enclosing the entire field. To the left, an elaborate green circular vignette carries the bank's armorial seal surrounded by the circular legend 'BANCA SELLA BIELLA' and the founding date 'FONDATA NEL 1886', framed by ornamental rosettes. The denomination '300' appears in large bold numerals at upper right alongside the Lire symbol, with the amount written out in script as 'TRECENTO' across the centre, set against a pink repeated-text underprint reading 'BANCA SELLA BIELLA'. The issue place and date 'Vercelli, 14 ottobre 1976' are printed at top centre, with the beneficiary 'CONFESERCENTI VERCELLI' and an authorising signature at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a predominantly white field with a large central guilloche rosette in pink-red, composed of concentric interlocking lathe-work rings forming a floriated pattern. At the top, the heading 'GIRATE' appears in bold red capitals below the restrictive circulation notice, with the beneficiary endorsement 'CONFESERCENTI VERCELLI' and a manuscript signature repeated from the obverse. At the foot, a two-line italic text in pink advises that the stated sum is held by Banca Sella at the disposal of the bearer. |
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| Comments |
Banca Sella, a private bank founded in Biella in 1886, issued fiduciary notes like this 300 Lire piece as part of Italy's short-lived experiment with commercial bank emergency currency during the severe coin shortage of the early-to-mid 1970s. The Italian government, unable to produce sufficient small-denomination coinage, temporarily authorized banks and private businesses to circulate their own substitute money — a situation that generated dozens of distinct issuers and an enormous variety of types within just a few years.
The denomination itself is unusual. 300 Lire sits outside the standard coinage denominations of the period, suggesting it was calculated to meet specific change-making needs rather than mirror official currency units. Marco Spada & C. S.p.A. handled a number of these commercial fiduciary notes during the period, working out of Milan.