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50 Lire small margins
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1942 |
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| Reference(s) | P#57 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCA D'ITALIA LIRE CINQUANTA PAGABILI A VISTA AL PORTATORE IL GOVERNATORE IL CASSIERE D.M. 24 GENNAIO 1942 A. XX E 10 OTTOBRE 1933 A. XI DECRETO MINISTERIALE 30 LUGLIO 1926 LA LEGGE PUNISCE I CONTRAFFATORI E GLI SPACCIATORI DI BIGLIETTI FALSI OFFICINA DELLA BANCA D'ITALIA - ROMA (Translation: Bank of Italy / Fifty Lire / Payable on demand to the bearer / The Governor / The Cashier) |
| Reverse description | The reverse centres on a bold intaglio vignette of the Lupa Capitolina — the celebrated bronze she-wolf suckling the infant twins Romulus and Remus on a pedestal — set against a plain guilloche underprint field. An orange-red circular seal appears to the left, while a large blank circular watermark reserve is positioned at right within a richly engraved ornamental border of floral and geometric motifs. The numeral '50' within a scrollwork cartouche is placed at lower right, with 'LIRE' below. |
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| Comments |
The "small margins" designation isn't decorative — it marks a deliberate production adjustment. During the early war years, Banca d'Italia's in-house press at Rome trimmed sheet layouts to reduce paper consumption, resulting in the notably tighter margins that distinguish this type from the preceding issue. The change was practical, not aesthetic.
With just over twelve million printed across the 1940–1942 run, quantities were modest by wartime standards. Italy's monetary situation deteriorated sharply after 1943, and notes of this denomination were frequently overstamped or demonetized during the Allied occupation period, accounting for the relative difficulty in finding unaltered survivors today.