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500 Lire Mercurio
| Issuer | Ministero del Tesoro (Italian Treasury) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1974-1979 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 28 February 1986 |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Mercury in right profile, wearing his characteristic winged helmet, rendered after a classical sculptural model, occupies the right portion of the face. The centre bears the large numeral '500' in bold letterpress, flanked by three signature lines for the Direttore Generale del Tesoro, the Cassiere Speciale, and the Corte dei Conti representative. A fine guilloche rosette and a circular watermark void appear to the left, set against a multicolour geometric underprint in teal, gold, and blue across the upper field. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Italy's postwar coinage shortages were chronic enough that the Treasury resorted to issuing small-denomination cartamoneta more than once, and the 500 Lire Mercurio was among the last of these stopgap emissions. By the mid-1970s, actual 500-lire coins were being hoarded — silver issues had been withdrawn years earlier and the new acmonital coins never circulated freely enough to meet demand — so paper substitutes filled the gap at tobacconists, post offices, and market stalls.
Vangelli's design work for the Istituto Poligrafico was prolific across Italian fiscal paper of the period. The series ran across two distinct emission dates within the quoted range, with subtle serial prefix variations distinguishing them.