4 | Spanish Banknotes

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1000 Pesetas. January 1, 1884. No series. (Edifil 2023: 286, Pick: 28). Extraordinarily rare, especially with no repairs. VF+. Encapsulated in PMG25. Ex-Caja Madrid auction collection. (To give an idea of the rarity, as of November 1, 2024, this note is the second-highest graded banknote in PMG, and only these three banknotes are listed in PMG's inventory.)

When the Bank of Spain contracted the American Bank Note Company to produce the January 1884 issue, they already had clear plans for expansion throughout the country. They opened fifteen new branches that same year, and another twelve would follow in the following two years. This was likely the reason they hired the American printing house to produce a new issue, given its capacity and response time were undoubtedly superior to those of the Bank's own workshop.

Like the previous issue produced by the American Bank Note Company, this 1884 issue features a specific vignette engraved for the Bank of Spain and an accompanying collection of other stock designs. Having learned the lesson of 1876, when the auxiliary vignettes were widely used by the Americans for other clients, the Bank of Spain wanted to restrict their use to prevent a repeat of the same situation. To this end, they purchased the painting that inspired the design of the 25-peseta note. However, they did not realize that the printing press had the plates already engraved and could replicate them at will, both for that vignette and for the others that adorn the rest of the issue. The matron with the wheel (officially an allegory of Fortune) located on the right side of this thousand-peseta note was used, as is or with some modification, extensively on banknotes from Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico, all in the years following its use on the Spanish banknote. It also appears on a banknote issued by the Ontario Bank of Canada in 1888, which also uses other "Spanish" vignettes. The caryatid on the left side of the banknote was less famous, but was used a couple of years later on a Colombian banknote.

And why use the image of Juan de Dios Álvarez Méndez (Mendizábal was not his original surname, but he changed it in 1812, for political marketing purposes)? It's certainly a mystery worthy of analysis. He is the first politician to appear on a Spanish banknote, assuming that Campomanes is featured primarily for his studies and writings on economics. The July issue of that same year would repeat this trend, including other famous politicians (some recently deceased, like Mon). They all have in common that they were finance ministers. Presumably, Mendizábal was the first, having been part of the liberal conspiracy against Ferdinand VII.

From a collector's perspective, when considering this January 1884 issue, they know they're going to have to invest a significant amount of money to acquire it in its entirety. The lower denominations are classic banknotes of enormous beauty and relative rarity, but they are still within reasonable prices. However, the 500 and 1000 peseta denominations of this Mendizábal issue are a different story, as they are much rarer in any condition, and this, as expected, affects their market value. In particular, the 1000 peseta note from January 1884 is the rarest of the entire series, ranking on par with the 1875, 1878, and 1880 notes, and even the 50 peseta note from 1874, the famous Pick 2.