43 Scudi

The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was a papal pawnbroking institution established in 1539, and by the late eighteenth century its paper instruments — known as cedole — functioned as a de facto circulating currency within Rome. This 43 Scudi piece is an odd denomination by design, not accident: cedole were issued in the exact amount of the pawned collateral, meaning each note is technically unique to a specific transaction.

The manuscript signatures and embossed seal were the authentication mechanism, applied at the moment of issue by bank officials. No two cedole left the counter identical.