Catalog
500 Nuevos Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Central del Uruguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 159 x 74 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette is an intaglio portrait of José Gervasio Artigas (1764–1850), national hero and founding father of Uruguayan independence, positioned at right center. The national coat of arms appears to the left, set against a finely worked guilloche underprint. Inscriptions in letterpress identify the issuing authority and denomination. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO CENTRAL DEL URUGUAY (Translation: Central Bank of Uruguay) |
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| Comments |
The 500 Nuevos Pesos denomination sat at the upper end of Uruguay's circulating series at the time of issue, a period when the country was still managing the economic fallout from the 1982 financial crisis and subsequent peso devaluations. The "Nuevos Pesos" system — introduced in 1975 at a rate of 1,000 old pesos — was itself approaching obsolescence by 1990; within three years it would be replaced by the Peso Uruguayo at 1,000 to 1, effectively erasing four decimal places of inflation-driven depreciation in a single redenomination.
Thomas De La Rue's involvement here is unremarkable for the region — they printed extensively for Latin American central banks throughout this period — but the watermark remains the sole listed security feature, modest even by early 1990s standards.