The Family Tree of Money
Image awaiting selection · Public-domain or CC0 images only.

Papal scudo — later lira scale

The surviving inventory describes financial obligations, beyond the coins in circulation.1

Years
Under research
Where
Papal territories; local practices varied
Family
Other origins
Status
Under research

A scudo was something a borrower could owe. The Torlonia archive records a lawsuit over Agostino Chigi’s debt and a guarantee for a 58,000-scudo loan from the Rome savings bank. The surviving inventory describes financial obligations, beyond the coins in circulation.1

In 1866, the papal government introduced a decimal lira scale, reported at 5.375 lire per old scudo. That rescaling belongs within this monetary history. The complete original rules for accounts and existing obligations still need to be checked.2

There was no single day when every Papal territory changed its books. Public offices in the Romagne used Italian lire from January 1860. Rome followed a decade later: the 1870 decree extended Italian monetary law, while outstanding Roman receipts and payments passed into the Italian budget for 1871. Specified papal coins temporarily remained legal tender.34

Timeline

  1. Scudo-denominated borrowing

    Debt litigation and a guaranteed loan attest the account.1

  2. Romagne’s public books change

    Italian lire become the public-account unit locally.3

  3. The papal lira scale

    The reported conversion is 5.375 lire per scudo.2

  4. Rome joins Italian accounts

    Monetary law and carried-forward balances enter the Italian framework.4

Coins and notes

Images are under research. Each image will carry its caption, collection credit and public-domain or CC0 license.

How do we know?

Earlier stages not yet researched.

Complete evidence record →
Legal history and sources
Debt evidence
AD 1832–1840
Later scale
Papal lira from 1866; full account provisions remain under review
Italian accounting
Romagne in 1860; Rome in 1870–1871

The Torlonia archive inventory records litigation over Agostino Chigi’s scudo-denominated debt in 1832–1837, and a guaranteed loan of 58,000 scudi from the Rome savings bank in 1840. These are monetary obligations; the original contract files were not inspected.1

The discussion of Antonelli’s edict of 18 June 1866 reports 5.375 papal lire per old scudo. The lira scale is retained within this account history rather than added as another currency. This association remains qualified pending the complete original account and obligation provisions.2

The municipal-library chronology dates the Romagne’s move to Italian-lira public books to 1 January 1860, following the 1859 monetary decrees. This local change precedes Rome’s 1870 annexation and must not be treated as one simultaneous reform of every Papal territory.3

Royal Decree 5920 extends Italian monetary law to Rome from 1 November 1870, temporarily preserving tender for specified papal coins. Articles 17–18 introduce Italian accounting rules in 1871 and carry residual Roman receipts and payments into that year’s Italian budget. Fiscal succession and coin withdrawal have different dates.4

Other historical conversions

These replacements, contributions and local conversions belong to the currencies’ histories. They do not establish founding ancestry of the receiving currency.

  • To Italian lira · Evidence period: 1859–1871

    Papal-territory accounts entered existing Italian-lira reckoning in separate regional episodes: Romagne public books from January 1860, and Rome’s monetary and budget integration in 1870–1871. The date band groups those episodes; it is not a single reform, a founding date or a universal scudo exchange rate. Specified papal coins temporarily retained tender.

    Conversion terms and evidence ↗

Source notes

  1. Anna Maria Giraldi, Archivio Centrale dello Stato · L’archivio dell’Amministrazione Torlonia: inventario, Quaderni della Rassegna degli Archivi di Stato 52 (1985)

    Printed p. 122 (PDF p. 77), entries 130.28 and 130.31: scudo-denominated debt litigation, 1832–1837, and guaranteed loan, 1840

  2. Giacomo Antonelli, Papal Secretariat of State; discussed and partly reproduced by Roberto Ganganelli · Edict 10, 18 June 1866: Nuovo sistema di moneta pontificia in lire e centesimi

    Discussion of articles 1–2 and 13–15, especially 5.375 papal lire per old scudo; reproduced opening and denomination tables

  3. Biblioteca Salaborsa, Comune di Bologna · La lira ha corso legale nelle Romagne

    June 28, 1859 chronology entry; 1 October decree and public books from January 1, 1860; cites Vincenzo Leonardi (1961), pp. 396–397,402–403

  4. Kingdom of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II and Quintino Sella · Royal Decree 5920, 13 October 1870: financial and monetary unification of Rome

    Gazzetta Ufficiale 285, October 16, 1870, first page: articles 14–18 and 24. Monetary law; retained papal coin tender; Roman budget residuals

Full claim history and source register →

Cite this currency

“Papal scudo — later lira scale.” The Family Tree of Money. Field Technologies, Inc. Data v52; accessed 14 October 2026.

Find a currency