104 | Spanish Banknotes

Automatically generated translation

Proof of the reverse of the 100 Pesetas bill issued on April 7, 1953, in a non-definitive color and without numbering. (Edifil 2021: 464P). Extraordinarily rare. Uncirculated.

The issuance of the banknote dedicated to the painter Julio Romero de Torres was a notable turning point in the production of the National Mint and Stamp Factory, both due to the changes in the processes derived from the new physical location of the factory and its new inherited machines. by Goya Engravings, as well as the formal beginning of the definitive standardization of colors that would take root during the rest of the 20th century.
Coincidentally, this bill is also one about which the Casa de la Moneda Museum keeps the most information and examples. The original photos used, the engraved plates and their printing tests, among other things, are preserved (exclusive and unpublished images of these objects can be seen in the Encyclopedia of Notafilia and Spanish Scripophilia). But there are also intermediate developments, collages of borders, photos and drawn parts in approximations to the final design. It is at this point where the specimen offered at auction fits in, a unique piece coming from that creative process.
We find an impression of the practically definitive design in the absence of the texts on the cartouches. You can precisely see, hand-drawn, the text BANCO DE ESPAÑA in the final typography. At the bottom the text CIEN PESETAS does not yet appear. We also found a subtle difference in the white lines in the guilloche design on the left and top, although this is possibly a matter of the perfection of the iron used in this test.
In short, we find an exceptional and unique piece worthy of a museum, which in fact complements the collections of the FNMT.