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50 Lire
| Issuer | Regie Finanze (Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1794 |
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| Currency | Scudo Sardo (1720-1816) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed in black on white paper with a decorative border frame enclosing the text. An embossed dry seal appears at the upper right, and a heraldic vignette of a lion with a shield is placed at the lower portion of the note. The text panel carries the denomination and issuing authority in period Italian script, with multiple manuscript signatures of treasury officials below. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | Fine cross-hatched diagonal grid lines covering the entire paper surface |
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| Comments |
The Regie Finanze — the royal treasury administration of Piedmont-Sardinia — began issuing paper money in the early 1790s under severe fiscal pressure from the wars triggered by the French Revolution. Piedmont was among the first Italian states to face French military encroachment, and the need to finance defense without depleting coin reserves drove the rapid expansion of note issues from 1792 onward.
By 1794, the kingdom was functionally at war. Notes of this series circulated in a climate of acute public mistrust, and many were quickly discounted against specie. The watermark was the principal — essentially the only — barrier against forgery, a thin line of defense for a government already losing ground militarily and financially. Piedmont fell to French forces by 1796.