Catalog
50 centesimi Banca Toscana
| Issuer | Banca Toscana di Anticipazioni e Sconto |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centesimi (1/2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Light blue note with an intricate guilloche border framing the entire face. At left, a large circular guilloche rosette contains the bold numeral '50'; to the right, the issuer's name 'BANCA TOSCANA' is printed in large letterpress type above the full title 'DI ANTICIPAZIONI E SCONTO', followed by the authorization line 'Approvata con R. Decreto 24. Aprile 1870'. The denomination 'CMI CINQUANTA' and the legend 'BONO DI CASSA' appear centrally, with a blue underprint numeral '50' visible beneath the text. At the foot of the note, the roles 'Il Presidente' and 'Il Cassiere' are printed flanking two manuscript signatures, with a red circular bank cancellation stamp overlapping the centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown on cream paper, the reverse is dominated by a large central oval guilloche frame enclosing the redemption text. Four corner medallions each bear the numeral '50' within a finely engine-turned rosette. The anti-counterfeiting warning 'LA LEGGE PUNISCE I FALSIFICATORI' runs along the top margin, while the printer's imprint appears along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Banca Toscana di Anticipazioni e Sconto was one of several regional Italian banks still issuing their own notes in 1870, the year Rome fell to the Italian state and the political pressure to unify the currency system became impossible to ignore. Small fractional notes like this 50 centesimi were a direct response to the chronic shortage of small change that plagued the early Kingdom, with coins being hoarded almost immediately after striking.
Litografia Guglielmo Thumb in Bologna handled the printing — a lithographic house, not an intaglio specialist, which shows in the relatively modest security features typical of the firm's commercial work.