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Auction: SW1012 - Bonds & Shares Certificates of the World
Lot: 95

Banca Ambrosiano. Certificate of 250 shares 1000 Lira each. Milano, 20 Guigno 1973. Nr. 0003485. Four small rust spot at the top. The infamous Banco Ambrosiano was founded in Milan in 1896 and was named after Saint Ambrose, the fourth century archbishop of the city. The bank was the source of many scandals and finally collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in Licio Gelli’s Lodge Propaganda Due (P2). Vatican Bank was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder. The death of Pope John Paul I in 1978 is rumoured to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal. This would later give Hollywood one of the subplots for the film The Godfather Part III. In 1982, it was discovered that the bank was unable to account for $1.3 Billion of its assets. Calvi fled the country on a false passport and was soon afterwards found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London. EF.

Sold for
SFr80