1 Peseta Alfarràs

Alfarràs is a small municipality in the Segrià comarca of Lleida, and like dozens of Catalan and Valencian towns, it issued its own emergency paper — or in this case, card — during the Civil War when the Republic's central coin supply collapsed after 1936. Copper and silver vanished almost immediately through hoarding and requisition, forcing local councils to improvise with whatever printing stock they had on hand.

The square format is a practical consequence of cutting card to maximize yield, not a design choice. The official stamp substituting for any sophisticated security feature tells you everything about the conditions under which these were produced.