Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Lire Big L
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome, Italy (1928-date) |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Green intaglio-printed note centred on a large ornamental letter 'L' guilloche, within which an allegorical seated female figure with a child is set to the left on a pedestal vignette. The title 'BANCA D'ITALIA' and denomination 'LIRE CINQUANTA' appear in bold letterpress across the upper centre, below which the payability clause and two signature lines for the Governor and Cashier are printed, accompanied by a red-orange circular seal at centre. Serial number and series prefix appear twice, at upper right and lower left, framed by an elaborate engraved border with floral corner ornaments. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 50 LIRE CINQUANTA DECRETO MINISTERIALE 19 MAGGIO 1926 ART. 2 DELLA LEGGE 10 AGOSTO 1893 N. 449 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 1943 Banca d'Italia 50 Lire belongs to a series issued under extraordinary wartime pressure — the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato was producing currency even as Allied bombing campaigns targeted Rome's infrastructure. The nickname "Big L" distinguishes it from the smaller-format 50 Lire issues and refers informally to the oversized denomination numeral in the design, though collectors use it primarily as a quick catalog shorthand.
Wartime paper quality was inconsistent, and notes from this period are frequently found with foxing or brittleness attributable to inferior wartime pulp. Ballarini's engraving work on the series was among his last before the political upheavals of 1943 disrupted normal production scheduling at the institute.