48 Scudi

The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was not a central bank but a papal pawnbroking institution — a monte di pietà — originally established in the sixteenth century to provide low-interest loans to the Roman poor as a charitable alternative to moneylenders. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into something closer to a deposit bank, and its printed polizze functioned as a recognized medium of exchange within the Papal States.

The 48 scudi denomination is an oddity. Roman accounting of the period used the scudo divided into 100 baiocchi, but 48 scudi corresponds to no obvious fractional or administrative unit — it may reflect a specific loan class or pledge valuation rather than a round monetary denomination designed for general circulation.