3 | Spanish Banknotes

Automatically generated translation

500 Pesetas. January 1, 1884. No series. (Edifil 2021: 285, Pick: 27). Extraordinarily rare especially without any repairs. Good Very Fine. Encapsulated PMG35 (to give us an idea of ​​the rarity, as of November 1, 2023, this note is the highest rated along with another note in PMG, there are no more registered notes).

The January 1884 issue was commissioned from the American Bank Note Company, surely in an attempt to increase the security of Spanish banknotes. The result, although aesthetically extraordinary, was not what was desired, since each and every one of those bills turned out to be counterfeit. Such was the failure of the issue (and the anger over the repeated use of the 25 peseta vignette) that the Bank of Spain cut off relations with the Americans in the bud and returned to its workshop on Atocha Street to continue producing banknotes. However, the Bank put the entire series into circulation over a long period of time.
The broadcasts of 1884 (January and July) represented an explosion of dedications to politicians, but not necessarily from the previous century (which there were), but also to some just a few years after their death (as is the case of Alejandro Mon). . Most of these characters were finance ministers (only Floridablanca would fall outside that category).
A note of this high denomination was worth a fortune at the time, even for those with well-off positions. The director of the Bank of Spain branch in Barcelona, ​​the highest paid, received two of these bills a month. But for most mortals, a bill like this was, at the very least, the salary of several months, if not even a year of work.