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70 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1797 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on plain paper within an ornate engraved rectangular border composed of repeated decorative vine and scroll motifs. The issuer's name S. MONTE DELLA PIETÀ DI ROMA appears in large bold lettering at centre, with the denomination SETTANTA enclosed in a decorative cartouche below, flanked by rows of small ornamental devices. Manuscript entries record the date, register number, serial number, and handwritten signatures of authorising officials, with a stamp impression visible at lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse printed in black with the denomination repeated multiple times across the surface in a regular pattern of typeset blocks, each reading SETTANTA and 70 enclosed within ruled frames. The repetition serves as a simple anti-counterfeiting measure, filling the entire field. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower left area, along with faint ink show-through from the obverse. |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest pawnbroking and credit institutions in Europe, chartered by papal authority in 1539 to provide loans to the poor at controlled interest rates. By the late eighteenth century it had evolved into a quasi-banking operation issuing fiduciary notes — the cedole — backed by deposits of gold, silver, and pledged goods held in its Roman vaults.
1797 was a particularly precarious moment for any Roman paper instrument. Napoleon's Italian campaign had already stripped the Papal States of significant bullion through the Treaty of Tolentino signed that February, directly undermining the specie reserves that gave these notes their credibility. Whether this specific cedola circulated freely or was quickly hoarded is the kind of question the surviving population of examples rarely answers cleanly.
The 70 Scudi denomination is irregular enough to suggest it was not a round-figure commercial note but possibly tied to a specific pledge or loan redemption schedule.