Catalog
50 Lire Italian occupation
| Issuer | Cassa Mediterranea di Credito per il Sudan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
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| Value | 50 Lire |
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| Obverse description | At left, an oval vignette contains a bust portrait of Michelangelo's David rendered in intaglio. The central field carries the bilingual title inscription in Italian and Arabic above the denomination in cursive script. An empty oval cartouche at right, framed by decorative borders, serves as the serial number panel. The numeral 50 appears at lower centre within a guilloche underprint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is laid out in a tripartite format with wide decorative side panels enclosing the central text block. Denomination numerals '50' and 'LIRE EG.' appear in each corner, with Arabic equivalents alongside. The centre repeats the bilingual issuer title and denomination legend over a fine guilloche ground. Placeholder serial numbers '0000' and '000.000' confirm the trial status of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Cassa Mediterranea di Credito was an Italian colonial financial instrument deployed across occupied territories — separate institutions were established for Greece, Ethiopia, and Sudan, each issuing notes specifically non-negotiable outside their assigned zone. This prevented currency arbitrage between occupied regions and kept the metropolitan lira insulated from colonial inflation pressures.
The Sudan series appeared in 1940 following Italy's entry into the war and the subsequent push into British-held East Africa. Mussolini's forces briefly occupied parts of Sudan before being driven back by mid-1941, which sharply curtailed actual circulation time. Notes from this series did not survive in large quantities — the occupation lasted months, not years.