300 Lire Credito Artigiano

Credito Artigiano was a Milan-based cooperative bank serving artisans and small tradespeople, and these 300 lire notes were emergency fiduciary scrip — minassegni — issued to address the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Italy through much of the 1970s. With coins perpetually hoarded or melted, banks, shops, and transport companies were legally permitted to circulate their own low-denomination paper substitutes. The 300 lire denomination is one of the more unusual ones produced, sitting awkwardly between more common 100 and 500 lire issues.

Marco Spada & C. was among several small Milan printers kept busy by this peculiar monetary gap.