Banca Toscana di Credito

The Banca Toscana di Credito per le Industrie e il Commercio (lit. 'Tuscan Credit Bank for Industry and Trade') was an Italian bank of issue, founded 1860/05/12 in Livorno. In 1893 it merged with several of its peers to form the Bank of Italy, Italy's central bank.

History
It was founded on 1860/05/12 by the Livorno count Pietro Bastogi, with the aim of providing a basis for the financing of important industries such as, for example, the Italian Southern Railways Company. The new venture only started operations on 1863/09/15, after having assembled a critical mass of initial shareholders, and opened for retail business on 1863/12/15.

The bank issued notes of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 liras, all made by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company of London from 1864 to 1880. The initially planned denomination of 5000 lire never came into circulation. The notes of the Banca Toscana di Credito have become extremely rare and almost never appear on the collectors' market.