1 Peseta Chiva

Chiva is a small municipality in Valencia province, and like hundreds of Spanish towns during the Civil War, its local council issued emergency fractional currency when Republican-zone coin shortages became acute after 1936. These billetes de necesidad — necessity notes — were authorized under increasingly chaotic conditions, with little coordination between issuing bodies. The Consejo Municipal operated with whatever printing resources were locally available, which shows in the production quality of most examples from this series.

The official stamp was the primary — sometimes only — fraud deterrent, applied by hand. Notes lacking a clear impression are frequently encountered and were probably treated with suspicion even at the time.