SPECIAL REPORT: ROME'S ELEGANT "PAWN SHOP" PAYS MONEY QUICKLY AT LOW INTEREST RATES
Record ID:
637910
SPECIAL REPORT: ROME'S ELEGANT "PAWN SHOP" PAYS MONEY QUICKLY AT LOW INTEREST RATES
- Title: SPECIAL REPORT: ROME'S ELEGANT "PAWN SHOP" PAYS MONEY QUICKLY AT LOW INTEREST RATES
- Date: 14th December 1988
- Summary: ROME, ITALY, NOVEMBER 29, 1988 SVs PAN & SCUs Gate of Monte Di Pieta opens and light flashes as pedestrians walk through gate - street outside - van drives through entrance - woman with plastic bag walks through gate (4 SHOTS). SCU PAN Svs EXTERIOR Building and entrance with name above statue of Pope Clement VIII with PAN of bas-relief - fountain (4 SHOTS). 0.46 SV PAN SCU Chapel and cupola - crucifix and statue of Virgin MARY (2 SHOTS). 1.02 SVs & SCU PAN People in main hall - young man filling in form - people at counter (3 SHOTS). 1.16 SVs & SCUs INTERIOR SHOTS Of people looking at various articles of jewellery, cufflinks and watch (7 SHOTS). 1.36 SVs & Cu People looking at objects - woman locks glass cabinet - security guard - camera in wall (4 SHOTS). 1.50 SVs PAN Fur coats, man brings out two coats - woman tries on fur coat (2 SHOTS). 2.05 SCUs & CU "Richerche" sing on door - man examines gem stone - stone held in tweezers - technician talks about something unusual in stone's colour distribution (English SOT) (3 SHOTS). 2.27 SVs & CUs Radiation sign: "Zona Controllata" - bottles on laboratory bench - technician puts stone inside x-ray machine - man retrieves stone - pearl on machine - book showing different patterns natural and cultured pearls make (6 SHOTS). 2.50 SCU Giovanni Fiermonte, Director of Monte Di Pieta, talking about his pawnbroking business (Italian SOT). 3.14 SVs & CUs Auctioneer talking and sorting out objects - necklace with ring - audience - man in audience raises hand - woman holds gold chain - earrings placed on square - jewellery (8 SHOTS). 3.46
- Embargoed: 29th December 1988 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Business,General
- Reuters ID: LVA6PV1JZQBGJ7VMQ26PRSTD1UKW
- Story Text: ROME, ITALY
Rome's Monte Di Pieta (Mount of Pity) is about as far from a typical pawnbroker's shop as one can get. For more than four centuries it was a refuge for the poor with a bedsheet or mattress to pawn. Today, in a more affluent Rome, it accepts only gems and precious metals, oriental rugs, furs, cameras and high quality stereo equipment. The Monte Di Pieta, a name used for pawn shops all over Italy, has existed as a benevolent institution in the Italian capital since a Franciscan monk set out in the year 1539 to rescue the poor from unscrupulous money lenders.
SYNOPSIS: Security is a high, priority at this elegant pawnbroker's establishment. There has only been one attempt at robbery at the Monte Di Pieta - and that was a failure. In 1972, a man stormed into the courtyard, shot dead the doorman, stormed out again and was arrested the same day..armed guards are on constant alert.
The Monte Di Pieta moved in the year 1604 to its present home, a palace built by Pope Clement the Eighth. It fills one side of a square crammed with tiny jewellers shops in the commercial heart of old Rome. Catholic cardinals were its directors until the reunification of Italy in 1870. The Cassa Di Risparmio Di Roma - Rome's savings bank - has run it since 1937. The pawn shop's turnover in 1987 was a staggering 538 million dollars on 600,000 transactions.
The cardinals' connection with the Monte Di Pieta explains the small oval chapel - a masterpiece of Baroque art with statues of Faith, Hope, Charity and Mercy and bas-reliefs on the theme of abolishing the charging of exorbitant rates of interest on money lent.
Clients at this pawnbroker's shop can range from a needy widow pawning her wedding ring to pay overdue bills to a millionaire mortgaging the family heirlooms to conclude a business deal.
Jewels and precious metals are kept on an upper floor in a reinforced steel bunker protected by laser beam alarm systems. Computers guide sealed caskets of valuables in and out of the vault and to pawnbrokers' counters via overhead rails. The discretion and security would do credit to a Swiss bank and the oil paintings on the walls would grace many a museum.
Quick money at competitive interest rates and with few questions asked is one of the main reasons for the pawn shop's success. Another is the cheap security it offers in a city where a house left unoccupied is an invitation to Rome's legions of burglars. One Persian carpet dealer left 7,000 rugs in deposit this year when he closed his store for the annual holiday.
About 50,000 furs coats are stored at Monte Di Pieta during the summer. They are pawned and kept securely in the building at a fraction of the cost of storing them in a standard depository. And the owners of the coats have the bonus of a quick loan to help pay for their holiday.
The staff of 160 at Rome's pawn shop includes some of the best valuers in the world. Technicians in its modern laboratory check gem stones and pearls to make sure they are genuine. One woman recently went into the 17th century palace with two items of jewellery and left 35 minutes later with 580,000 dollars. After only a month she returned to redeem her valuables.
Items are pawned for periods of three to six months, up to a maximum of five years. If they are not redeemed with 30 days of the expiry of the period they are auctioned off. Customers can claim the proceeds from the auction, minus the accrued interest due to Monte Di Pieta, for up to five years from the auction date. After that the pawn shop keeps the money.
Giovanni Fiermonte, director of Monte Di Pieta, describes his pawnbroking business as "a bank with a difference". He said that if one wanted to borrow 40,000 dollars from a bank in Italy it would take months. But if the right object is brought to his pawn shop, the customer would receive the money in the time it takes to make a valuation, Fiermonte's strongrooms today hold treasures worth around 300 million dollars.
The auction room, where dealers and the public compete daily for unredeemed items at bargain prices. The bidders are watched over the grim-faced men immortalised in valuable oil paintings adoring the walls. Among the pawn shop's early customers was the artist Caravaggio. The British Duke of Kent followed in the 1700s and the wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the man who fought for Italian unity in the 19th century, pawned her husband's clients may be equally illustrious but their names are safe - protected by the banker's discretion at the Monte Di Pieta.
<strong>Source: REUTERS - GIANFRANCO STARA</strong> - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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