Catalog
38 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1792 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed note in black ink on plain paper, with a decorative typographic border enclosing the central text. The issuing authority 'S. MONTE DELLA PIETÀ DI ROMA' is set in large letters across the centre, above the denomination 'Trentotto' rendered in bold within a guilloche-flanked cartouche. The numeral '38' appears in a boxed heading at the top, with the full payment obligation text, register notation, manuscript signatures, and the validation 'Vaglia per tutto lo STATO ECCLESIASTICO' completing the face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse printed entirely in black letterpress, with the denomination repeated in a grid-like typographic layout across the entire surface. The word 'TRENTOTTO' and numeral '38', each set within decorative rule borders, alternate across the note in multiple rows, serving as a security repetition pattern. Several manuscript notations and handwritten endorsements are also present. |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest charitable pawnbroking institutions in Europe, established in 1539 to provide credit to the poor as an alternative to usurious moneylenders. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into a quasi-banking authority under papal oversight, issuing cedole — bearer certificates redeemable in specie — that functioned as practical currency in Rome's commercial life.
The 38 Scudi denomination is awkward enough to suggest it originated as a redemption certificate for a specific pledged value rather than a round-sum banking note. 1792 places it four years before Napoleon's Italian campaign would dismantle the Papal States' financial infrastructure entirely.