Catalog
50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de Puerto Rico |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889-1890 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue, the reverse centers on a large vignette of the crowned Spanish royal arms, flanked on either side by two large numeral '50' medallions set within intricate guilloche ovals. The inscriptions 'BANCO ESPAÑOL' at top and 'DE PUERTO RICO' at bottom are rendered in bold serif lettering within the decorative border. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO ESPAÑOL DE PUERTO RICO |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español de Puerto Rico was established by royal decree in 1888 as the island's first bank of issue, operating under Spanish colonial authority at a moment when Puerto Rico's sugar economy was already in structural decline. This 50 Pesos note, printed by the American Bank Note Company, reflects the peculiar colonial arrangement of the period: a Spanish-chartered institution ordering its paper from a New York engraver while the island remained under Madrid's sovereignty.
The ABNC's involvement was not unusual for Latin American and Caribbean issuers of the period — the firm held engraving contracts across the hemisphere — but the bank's entire operational life was short. The Spanish-American War of 1898 effectively ended the institution, and post-war currency transitions meant large quantities of these notes were withdrawn and destroyed rather than redeemed at full value.
High-denomination survivors from this issue are uncommon precisely because of that abrupt cessation.