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5000 Lire Colombo - 1st type
| Issuer | Banca d'Italia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1964-1970 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5000 Lire (5000 ITL) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Christopher Columbus (C. Colombo) occupies the right side of the note, rendered after a Renaissance-style painting. The centre carries the large denomination text CINQVEMILA in bold letterpress over a fine guilloche underprint, with the numeral 5000 in the lower left. Two signature lines for IL GOVERNATORE and IL CASSIERE flank a central Medusa-head vignette medallion, with the printer's imprint OFFICINA DELLA BANCA D'ITALIA at the lower left and the designer and engraver credits at the lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The Santa Maria, Columbus's flagship, is rendered in detailed intaglio at left centre under full sail on a calm sea, with the date and decree text inscribed at lower left. A large decorative sea-dragon or serpent vignette occupies the upper right, and the numeral 5000 appears within a geometric guilloche rosette at centre right. A guilloche panel at lower right carries the anti-counterfeiting warning inscription. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Comments |
The 5000 Lire denomination was substantial in everyday Italian life during the 1960s — roughly equivalent to a day's industrial wage when the series first appeared. Italy's postwar economic boom, the so-called miracolo economico, was already beginning to plateau by the time the final signature variant was authorized in January 1970, and inflationary pressure would eventually push the Banca d'Italia toward higher denominations entirely.
Three distinct signature combinations across six years make date-specific attribution straightforward, with the Carli/Ripa pairing of September 1964 being the earliest and typically the least common in high grades. Mario Baiardi's intaglio work on the obverse is among the finer examples of postwar Italian banknote engraving.