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5 Scudi
| Issuer | Banca dello Stato Pontificio |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note with an octagonal guilloche frame at centre, within which the denomination and payability clause are printed in letterpress. Serial number and series letter appear at left and right margins. Three manuscript role signatures appear below the central text panel, with an additional handwritten countersignature beneath. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Scudi Cinque PAGABILE A VISTA Il Governatore Il Cassiere Il Commissario |
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| Comments |
The Banca dello Stato Pontificio was established by papal motu proprio in 1850, created largely to stabilize the Holy See's finances after the catastrophic disruption of the Roman Republic of 1848–49. This note dates from early in the bank's operation, when public confidence in its paper instruments was still fragile — the population of the Papal States had strong preferences for specie, and low-denomination notes like this one circulated reluctantly.
The 5 Scudi denomination sat just above the threshold where most small transactions were conducted in coin, making it a note of the middling commercial classes rather than daily street trade. Printing was handled in Rome, within the Papal States' own administrative apparatus rather than farmed out to the major European security printers of the period.