History
In 1866 Pope Pius IX, whose sovereignty was reduced to the sole 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 silver, with 9/10 of purity) and the new lira (5 grams of silver, with 9/10 of purity). However, the Pope's treasurer, Giacomo Antonelli, devalued the purity of the Papal coins from 900/1000 to 835/1000, causing big problems to the Union, which later was forced to join the new standard. With the annexation of Rome to Italy in 1870, the Papal lira was substituted by the Italian lira at par.
The lira was subdivided into 100 cents (Italian: centesimo) and, differently from the other currencies of the union, into 20 shillings (Italian: soldo). However, all denomination in shillings had an equivalence in cents.
Read more about this topic: Papal Lira
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I feel as tall as you.”
—Ellis Meredith, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 14, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)