Catalog
8 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 8 Scudi |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 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 | Letterpress-printed cedola on plain paper, framed by a double-rule typographic border with a fine decorative outer frame. The institution name S. MONTE DELLA PIETÀ DI ROMA is set in bold display type at centre, above the text body stating the obligation to pay the bearer eight Roman Scudi at ten Giulii per Scudo. The numeral 8 appears in a small inset panel at upper centre, and the denomination word Otto is printed within a decorative typeset cartouche mid-field; handwritten entries record the date, register number, and serial number, with multiple manuscript signatures and a circular ink stamp also present. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 8 |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest pawnbroking institutions in the Catholic world, founded in 1539 and operating under direct papal protection. Its notes functioned less like conventional banknotes and more like receipts against deposited valuables — the "scudi" denominations corresponding to loan values secured by pledged goods held in the Monte's warehouses.
By 1788, the institution was printing notes in a range of odd fractional and whole-scudi values, which reflects the pawnbroking logic rather than any standard monetary hierarchy. These were filled in by hand at issuance and carry manuscript dating, authorization signatures, and sequential numbering — meaning no two examples are strictly identical documents.
Survival rate is low; most were redeemed and destroyed when the underlying pledge was recovered.