Castellino del Biferno, a small town in southern Italy, issues banknotes and coins with the image of Maradona, using the ducat in parallel to the euro.
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Castellino del Biferno, a picturesque town with around 500 inhabitants, is located in southern Italy, about three hours from Rome. This small town has captured international attention not only for its charm, but also for its peculiar use of a local currency, the ducat, which circulates alongside the euro. The most striking thing of all is that the bills of this currency feature the image of the legendary soccer player Diego Maradona.
The duchies of Castellino del Biferno are regularly renewed to avoid counterfeiting. A special edition was issued on February 13, 2021 in commemoration of “the victims of all the massacres perpetrated by the Savoy against the south and the day when Gaeta capitulated”In this limited collection, the banknotes showed Maradona in several iconic scenes: scoring the famous goal with his hand against England, lifting the World Cup with the Argentine National Team, celebrating a goal, and lifting the UEFA Cup with Napoli. In the center of these bills was the sun of the Argentine flag and a temple-like structure.
The ducat was implemented as a parallel currency to the euro in June 2020, during the pandemic, with the aim of helping local families. The condition was that the ducats had to be spent on activities within the town, thus promoting the local economy.
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Castellino del Biferno, located in one of the smallest and poorest regions of Italy, has a strong regional identity and a marked resentment towards the north of the country. The town has gone so far as to exclude the north from the maps and identifies itself with the motto “Rebel South».
The city’s vans carry stickers with the Bourbon shield, in homage to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which ruled southern Italy and Sicily between 1816 and 1861. In this context, Maradona, a football idol who triumphed in southern Italy with Napoli has become a symbol of the south’s fight against the north.
Source: Via País
Photo: TyC Sport
