251 | Spanish Bank Notes

Automatically generated translation

(1940ca). Set of 2 proofs of unapproved projects of banknotes of 25 and 100 Pesetas of the Bank of Spain, on onion paper and adhered on catuline, designed in Paris by the Institute of Gravure, finally it was decided to commission the printing to Coen and Cartevalori, in Milan series (Edifil 2017: NE41 / 44) that was later destroyed, where precisely the 25 Pesetas note was dedicated to Columbus and the three Caravels. Very rare and only known set.

The use of the banknote as a support for the propagation of political ideas is inherent in its creation. If there is a period in our recent history that makes this aspect evident, it is the period of the Spanish civil war, where both sides used paper money to spread their message among the population. On the national side, the theme tries to reflect, as it had happened during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and will happen after the war, the image of a glorious Imperial Spain. In this sense, the discovery of America is a recurring theme as demonstrated not only by the design finally adopted (see ENE41, commissioned from Coen and Cartevalori in Milan) but also by this pair of projects, extremely rare and in all probability unpublished, for 25 and 100 pesetas dedicated to Christopher Columbus and the three caravels sailing to America. Projects discarded and surely destroyed, of which we are extremely fortunate to be able to keep these two specimens that we present here. Both pieces printed on onion paper on cardboard, with indications in pencil and stamped by the Institut de Gravure in Paris.