Catalog
5 Rupie
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Brown and cream note with an intricate guilloche underprint covering the entire field. At left, an oval vignette contains the text SOMALIA ITALIANA and CINQUE RUPIE in Italian above the Arabic equivalent روبيات. At centre, a large numeral 5 within a radiating sunburst medallion is surmounted by the BUNO DI CASSA cartouche, while an unprinted oval at right is reserved for a counterpart. The legend citing silver reserve backing appears in small letterpress text across the lower centre, with signature lines for IL DIRETTORE GENERALE and IL CASSIERE at bottom left and right respectively. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCA D'ITALIA SOMALIA ITALIANA CINQUE RUPIE BUONO DI CASSA 5 RUPIE EMESSE IN BASE A DEPOSITO CORRISPONDENTE IN VALUTE DI ARGENTO ESISTENTI NELLE CASSE DELLA BANCA D'ITALIA روبيات |
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| Comments |
Italian Somaliland's currency was administered through Banca d'Italia, but these notes were a colonial instrument grafted onto a territory where the Indian rupee had long dominated trade — the choice of "Rupie" rather than Lire was a deliberate concession to commercial reality along the Benadir coast. Italy had only consolidated formal control over the region in the years following the 1905 buyout from the Filonardi and then Società Anonima companies.
The series is scarce in any grade; circulation conditions in the Horn of Africa were punishing on paper, and surviving examples routinely show heavy tropical deterioration.