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Italian Banknotes
Dave Roe, WINS#495

Prior to the introduction of the Euro, Italian banknotes were almost works of art. They celebrated events, inventors, artists and famous Italians throughout the years.

Banca Romana, better known as the Bank of Rome came into being in 1870 when the Papal States Bank was closed. Through a royal decree the assets and liabilities of the Papal States Bank was assumed as well as the authority to issue banknotes

Banknotes first served as a way to resolve the chronic shortage of coins. It was several years before Italy established the face value of the notes. Early notes produced, the 5 and 10 lire notes were created and printed by the American BankNote Co. of New York. The bank was also limited in production. It was established that all notes must be backed by deposits three times the face value issued.

Early management of the printing process and the banks allowed to print notes was plagued by fraud. In fact in1893 the Bank of Rome was placed in liquidation and its notes lapsed on January the 31st 1898. Today the Bank of Italy is responsible for the production of all coinage and notes of Italy.

Banknote collecting in Italy is slowly catching on by the average collector. The serious collector is not a competitor. It is the tourist who wants to take home a piece of Italy that is making it difficult. Unless you find a shop that caters to the local collector prices will range from reasonable to insane. As in the USA condition is the driving force along with demand.

I started looking at notes that were in fair condition, even some considered poor if a major note. Simply, I looked for no major tears, missing corners, written on or holes. A stain or two would be acceptable if it did not distract too much from the overall appearance.

The first thing I found was the military script used during World War II. I was happy to find a 50 and 100 Lire in fair condition and in my price range. I never figured that with over 758 tons of the notes shipped to Italy they would be hard to locate. In good condition expect to pay around 10 - 15 euro for the 1 and 2 Lira square notes.

WWII 100 Lire Military Script

The next is a strange instrument found was from back in the 1970’s. In the 1970s there was a shortage of coins in Italy. Demand outstripped the small denomination coinage minted by the Italian government.

What caused the shortage? Italian currency was declining in value, the metal value surpassed their nominal value and the coins were melted down for profit.

In 1978 there were 835 different types of mini-assegni, (mini checks), in circulation for a total value of 200 Billion Lire when the Italian coin crisis ended. The banks realized large profits as most of the mini checks were never redeemed. The mini checks are easy to find and can be purchased in lots. The going price is about 1 euro per check.

Matching notes with coins has become an enjoyable adventure. I have almost given up on locating notes prior to 1900. From the time of unification in 1860 to 1899 the notes found in acceptable condition command too high a price. It is not unusual to see a page displayed with prices over the 500 euro mark.

There are on the market a number of notes from the many of the states that produced their own currency prior to 1860. There you need to pay close attention to reproductions that are very well done. I did purchase one note, VENEZIA - 1848 - Moneta Patriottica da Lire 1 from a dealer who is known in the market. It was an education as he showed what to look for as in the watermark versus a copy.

VENEZIA 1848 Moneta Patriottica da Lire 1

I did manage to acquire one high value note, the 50.000 Lira in a trade for a US mint set. It is nice when your shop will trade to fill a request from another customer.

50,000 Lira note

Now as I hunt to fill holes in the coin collection I am also trying to match a year set with a note. I did well finding my birth year of 1951 with both the 50 and 100 Lira notes. I checked that set off as complete.

1951 50 Lira note

There is one note that while not Italian, has missing corners but I just had to pick it up.

The Japanese government-issued Philippine peso, part of the Japanese invasion money of World War II, was issued between 1942 and 1945 by the occupying Japanese government. It was signed on the front by four Americans and by one the back. Four of the five had noted their address or state.

WWI Japanese government-issued invasion currency Philippine peso

It is a place in time most seldom think about and you have to wonder where the four ended up and how their lives turned out once back home. Just could not see it not being in a collection that understood their sacrifices.




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