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5 Pesos Obligación Provisional del Erario Federal
| Issuer | Tesorería de la Federación (Federal Treasury of Mexico) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pesos (5 MXP) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Dark olive-green letterpress note with an elaborate guilloche border framing the entire face. To the left, a large circular vignette presents the Mexican national arms — an eagle perched on a cactus with a serpent in its beak — enclosed within an ornate cartouche bearing the legend ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS. The right portion carries the title and statutory text in typeset script, with the series letter and serial number printed in red, and the date 'México, julio 25 de 1914' in italic script above two manuscript signature lines; a red oval official validation stamp appears at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Esta Obligación es de admisión obligatoria en toda la República y en toda clase de pagos, y en consecuencia, es de poder liberatorio en cantidad ilimitada para cualquiera clase de obligaciones, incluso el pago de impuestos de la Federación, de los Estados y de los Municipios. |
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| Comments |
The "Obligación Provisional" designation is key to understanding what this note actually is: not a banknote in any conventional sense, but an emergency obligation — essentially a government IOU — issued by the Federal Treasury during the catastrophic breakdown of Mexico's financial system in 1914. That year saw Constitutionalist forces advancing on Mexico City, the Huerta government collapsing, and commercial banks refusing to honor their own notes. The Federal Treasury fell back on provisional paper to keep basic government transactions functioning.
Printed domestically under conditions that precluded access to specialist security printers, the series relied on official stamping rather than engraved security elements. Forgery was a real concern across all Mexican emergency emissions of this period, and the stamp was the only practical deterrent available.