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5 Pesos Decrees of 3.9.1811 and 29.6.1813
| Issuer | Tesorería General de Puerto Rico |
|---|---|
| Year | 1814 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Uniface note printed in black on plain paper in a horizontal format. The upper portion carries the royal inscription referencing the reign of King Ferdinand VII and the year M.DCCCXIV (1814), identified as the third year of the Constitution, with the denomination CINCO PESOS stated at the upper right and a serial number at the upper left. A lengthy body text in Spanish, set in letterpress, pledges payment to the bearer by the Tesorería General de Puerto Rico, citing authority derived from the Decreto Soberano of 3 September 1811 and the Order of the Regency of 29 June 1813. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Numero / CINCO PESOS / REYNADO DEL SEÑOR DON FERNANDO VII / AÑO DE M.DCCCXIV TERCERO DE LA CONSTITUCION / La Tesorería General de Puerto Rico pagará al portador de este billete Cinco pesos en moneda metalica, á en equivalente en frutos del mismo valor, sobre la seguridad infalible de la fe pública, apoyada en el artículo 355 de la Constitución, en el Decreto Soberano de 3 de Septiembre de 1811, y en la Orden de la Regencia ó Gobierno de 29 de Junio de 1813. |
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The Tesorería General de Puerto Rico issued this note under emergency wartime authority, the dual decree dates reflecting a two-stage legal process: the 1811 decree authorizing paper currency for the island, and the 1813 decree expanding or confirming its terms. Puerto Rico's paper money experiment of this period was driven by a chronic shortage of coin, worsened by the disruptions of the Napoleonic Wars and the resulting collapse of regular Spanish treasury shipments from the Peninsula.
These notes circulated in a colonial economy deeply resistant to paper, and redemption was uncertain enough that public confidence remained fragile throughout the issue's lifespan. Pick 4 is among the earliest Puerto Rican paper issues, predating any formal banking infrastructure on the island by several decades.