Miniassegno
Miniassegni were a special kind of money, a type of notgeld, that circulated in Italy in the late 1970s in place of small change; which, in that period, was scarce and that, until then, had been replaced by candy, stamps, coin-operated telephone tokens, and in some cities, public transport tickets.
History
The first miniassegni made their appearance in December 1975 (10 December 1975 as part of the ' Istituto Bancario San Paolo and had the value of 100 Italian lira) and were subsequently issued by many banks; had the nominal values of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 lira. They were so called because they were cashier's checks (assegni in Italian) but smaller than normal.
To overcome the prohibition to issue currency (exclusive prerogative of the Italian central bank), banks emitted real bank drafts made payable to cut small entities and companies already equipped their turn; in practice, as well bearer securities, were exchanged from hand to hand as if they were real currency.
They circulated 835 different types issued by 42 banks, for a total value estimated at over 200 billion lire, and was a deal for the banks, since many of these pieces of paper were susceptible to breakage. Some were destroyed, because of the poor quality of the paper; others ended up in the hands of collectors or even forgotten in a drawer.
The miniassegni disappeared at the end of 1978 when the Government Printing Office and Mint was finally able to overcome the lack of small change brought about by the very high inflation of that time.
Some department stores' miniassegni were emitted in the form of buono merce ("good for goods") and even counterfeit miniassegni were circulated.
They were issued even figurative series, called Tourist series, so named because there were printed images or photographs. The figurative series were issued in limited quantities and selling prices very high, making the collection of miniassegni only a few collectors.
What ended miniassegni was the lack of 50 and 100 lira coins, they were going to end up as vignettes in Swiss watches, each coin was rewarded more than double its value, earning both manufacturers of watches that Gildo Fantardi composed the song "il Miniassegni".[1]
Issuers
Banks who issued miniassegni 1975 and 1978:
Literature
- Alberto Gullino, Sergio Boasso: Catalago euro-unificato dei Mini-Assegni. 368 S., Verlag Alfa Edizioni, Turin 2002, ISBN 978-88-88032-08-5
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Italienische Ausschweifungen. Die Münze, in: Ach Europa! Wahrnehmungen aus sieben Ländern. Mit einem Epilog aus dem Jahre 2006, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1987, S. 86–102
- Adelmo Manna: I delitti contro la fede pubblica e l'economia pubblica. Wolters Kluwer, Mailand 2010, S. 99–100, ISBN 978-88-5980420-8
See also
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Notes
External links
- Auswahl von Miniassegni auf Banknote Museum, abgerufen am 10. Oktober 2013
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Italienische Ausschweifungen, Kapitel III. Die Münze, in: Die Zeit, 16 March 1984