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400 Scudi
| Issuer | S. Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 400 SETTE GENNARO MILLE SETTECENTO OTTANTOTTO S. MONTE DELLA PIETA' DI ROMA La presente Cedola vale Scudi Romani Quattrocento da giulj Dieci per Scudo da pagarsi all' Esibitore Registro Num. Vaglia per tutto lo STATO ECCLESIASTICO |
| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse bearing the denomination 400 in typeset numerals repeated in each of the four corners within simple ruled frames. Numerous manuscript endorsements, signatures, and handwritten notations in ink cover the surface, reflecting the note's extensive circulation and successive transfers of ownership. |
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| Comments |
The Monte di Pietà in Rome was among the oldest pawnbroking institutions in Europe, chartered in 1539 under papal authority to provide credit to the poor at controlled rates — a direct counter to usurious moneylenders. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into something closer to a deposit bank, and these large-denomination scudi notes functioned more as transferable receipts between merchants and ecclesiastical creditors than as everyday currency.
Four hundred scudi was a substantial sum. This was not a note that changed hands at a market stall.