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55 Scudi
| Issuer | S. Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Scudo (1534-1835) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed cedola in black ink on plain paper, enclosed within a fine engraved rectangular border. The issuer's name 'S. MONTE DELLA PIETA DI ROMA' is set in large display type across the upper portion, with the date line 'QUINDICI GENNARO MILLE SETTECENTO OTTANTOTTO' printed above it. The denomination 'Cinquantacinque' appears in a central text band, with manuscript register and number entries completed by hand, and the note is valid 'per tutto lo STATO ECCLESIASTICO' as stated in the lower text block. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 55 QUINDICI GENNARO MILLE SETTECENTO OTTANTOTTO S. MONTE DELLA PIETA DI ROMA La presente Cedola vale Scudi Romani Cinquantacinque da giulj Dieci per Scudo da pagarsi all' Esbitore Registro Num. Vaglia per tutto lo STATO ECCLESIASTICO |
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| Comments |
The Monte di Pietà in Rome was not a bank in any modern sense — it was a charitable pawnbroking institution, founded in the late fifteenth century to provide low-interest loans to the poor as an alternative to usurers. By the eighteenth century it had evolved into a significant deposit and credit institution operating under papal supervision, and its printed obligations circulated locally as a functional paper currency in a city that remained resistant to banking innovation long after the rest of Europe had embraced it.
The 55 scudi denomination is an odd figure worth noting — non-round values like this typically reflect specific loan or deposit amounts rather than a general-circulation unit, suggesting this note served a transactional rather than monetary purpose.