Papal lira

Papal lira
lira pontificia (Italian)
20 lire
Unit
Nickname	franc
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄20	soldo (s.)
1⁄100	centesimo (c.)
Coins	c.1, s.1⁄2, s.1, s.2, s.4, s.5, s.10 L.1, L.2, L.2+1⁄2, L.5
Rarely used	L.10, L.20, L.50, L.100
Demographics
Official user(s)	Papal States
Unofficial user(s)	France Italy Switzerland Belgium Monaco Andorra
Issuance
Mint	Papal Mint
Valuation
Pegged with	French franc
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The lira was the currency of the Papal States between 1866 and 1870. It was subdivided into 20 soldi, each of 5 centesimi.

History

In 1866 Pope Pius IX, whose temporal domain had been reduced to only the province of Latium, decided to join the Latin Monetary Union. A new currency, the lira, was introduced with the same value of the French franc and the Italian lira. It replaced the scudo at a rate of 5.375 lire = 1 scudo : the rate was calculated thanks to the silver value of the old scudo (26.9 grams of 0.900 fine silver^{[citation needed]}) and the new lira (5 grams of 0.900 fine silver). However, some time^[when?] after joining the Union, the Pope's treasurer, Giacomo Antonelli, devalued the purity of the Papal silver coins from 900/1000 to 835/1000,^[1] causing big problems for the Union, which later was forced to adopt the new standard.^{[citation needed]} With the annexation of the Papal States to Italy in 1870, the Papal lira was replaced by the Italian lira at par.

The lira was subdivided into 100 centesimi and, differently from the other currencies of the union, into 20 soldi. However, all denomination in soldo had an equivalence in cents.

Coins

Copper coins were issued in denominations of c.1, s.1⁄2, (c.2+1⁄2), s.1 (c.5), s.2 (c.10) and s.4 (c.20), with silver s.5 (c.25) and s.10 (c.50), 1, 2, 2+1⁄2 and 5 lire, and gold 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lire.

References

^ Pinchera, S (a cura di) (1957). Monete e zecche nello stato pontificio dalla restaurazione al 1870 [Coins and mints in the papal state from the restoration to 1870]. Archivio economico dell’unificazione italiana. Vol. V, fasc. 3. Roma.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (cited in Rossi, Marinella (2013). La borsa di Roma dal 1847 al 1860 [The Rome Stock Exchange from 1847 to 1860] (PDF) (Thesis) (in Italian). Tesionline. p. 1. (first degree thesis))

Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.

External links

v t e Currency units named pound, lira, or similar
Circulating	Egyptian pound Lebanese pound Pound sterling Alderney pound Falkland Islands pound Gibraltar pound Guernsey pound Jersey pound Manx pound Saint Helena pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound Turkish lira Ukrainian hryvnia
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Defunct	Aeginetan mina AM-Lira Angevin pound Attic mina Australian pound Bahamian pound Bermudian pound Biafran pound British West African pound Byzantine litra Canadian pound Connecticut pound Cypriot pound Delaware pound Fijian pound French livre Livre parisis Livre tournois French colonial livre Guadeloupe livre Haitian livre New France livre Saint Lucia livre Gambian pound Georgia pound Ghanaian pound Irish punt Israeli lira Italian lira Italian East African lira Italian Somaliland lira Jaca pound Jamaican pound Japanese government-issued Oceanian pound Jersey livre Libyan pound Lombardo-Venetian lira Luccan lira Luxembourg livre Malawian pound Maltese pound Maryland pound Massachusetts pound New Brunswick pound New Guinean pound New Hampshire pound New Jersey pound New York pound New Zealand pound Newfoundland pound Nigerian pound North Carolina pound Nova Scotian pound Ottoman lira Palestine pound Papal lira Parman lira Pennsylvania pound Peruvian libra Pound Scots Prince Edward Island pound Rhode Island pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound Roman pound Sammarinese lira Sardinian lira Solomon Islands pound South Carolina pound Southern Rhodesian pound South African pond South West African pound Tongan pound Tripolitanian lira Tuscan lira Vatican lira Venetian lira Virginia pound West Indian pound Western Samoan pound Zambian pound
Historical antecedents (mass)	Roman pound (libra) Moneyer's pound (England) Grzywna (Grivna)
See also	Pound sign (£) Dinar Pound (mass) (℔) Roman currency Carolingian monetary system £sd

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