400 Escudos

The 400 Escudos denomination places this note squarely within Spain's brief experiment with the escudo system, introduced in 1864 as part of a decimal currency reform under Isabel II and abandoned in 1871 when the peseta replaced it entirely. The Glorious Revolution of 1868 had deposed Isabel II just months before this note's issue date, leaving the Banco de España operating under a provisional government with uncertain monetary authority.

Printed in-house in Madrid rather than contracted to a foreign specialist printer — unusual for high-value Spanish notes of the period, which had often relied on external engravers. The escudo series was short-lived enough that relatively few denominations entered heavy circulation before the system was scrapped.