50 Centesimi

The Consorzio Nazionale was a consortium of six major Italian issuing banks — Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia, Banca Nazionale Toscana, Banca Toscana di Credito, Banco di Napoli, Banco di Sicilia, and Banca Romana — formed specifically to issue small-denomination paper currency after the chronic disappearance of metallic coinage during the 1860s and early 1870s. Bronze and silver had been hoarded or melted; the gap at the bottom of everyday commerce was real and disruptive.

These notes were produced entirely within the Officina San Teodoro, the Italian state's own security printing facility in Rome, making this among the earliest domestically printed Italian fiduciary issues of the unified kingdom. The watermark was the principal anti-counterfeiting measure — printing technology and public trust in paper both still developing.