Italy is a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline. This country has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins. Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s "David" and Brunelleschi's Duomo; Venice, the city of canals; and Milan, Italy’s fashion capital.

Due to its central geographic location in Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to a myriad of peoples and cultures. Italy has a major advanced capitalist mixed economy, ranking as the third-largest in the Eurozone and the eighth-largest in the world. Italy is the world's sixth largest manufacturing country.

The lira (plural “lire”) was the currency of the country during various intervals of its history. From the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy between 1807 and 1814, the Albanian Kingdom between 1941 and 1943 to the introduction of the Euro, Lira was the official currency of Italy. It was subdivided into 100 centesimi.

Today we are discussing a 500 Lire banknote that was issued from 1966 to 1975. The obverse depicts an eagle standing to left with its wings spread attacking a coiled serpent that is held in its talons; Dolphins jumping in and out of the waves in centre and the head of the nymph Aretusa in profile to right. The reverse has the denominational value set in guilloche design with stylised waves motif. This grey-green and orange note has cornucopias situated vertically on the left and right margins of the banknote as its watermark.

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