5 Céntimos Játiva

Játiva — the Valencian town also spelled Xàtiva — issued emergency fractional notes during the Spanish Civil War, when Republican-held municipalities across Spain faced an acute shortage of small coinage. The central government's inability to supply sufficient bronze and copper change forced hundreds of towns to print their own provisional currency between 1936 and 1939. These local emissions were technically illegal tender outside the issuing municipality, accepted nowhere beyond the local market.

At 54 × 42 mm, this 5 céntimos piece is barely larger than a postage stamp — the format dictated by function, not design ambition. The thick card stock was chosen specifically because paper that thin would disintegrate within days of handling.