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500 Pesetas
| Issuer | Banco de España |
|---|---|
| Year | 1880 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Peseta (1868-2001) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | At left, a portrait vignette of Spanish painter Claudio Coello; at right, an allegorical female figure with a ship in the background. The face carries the issuing authority title, denomination, and date of issue, with three manuscript signature lines for the Governor, Auditor, and Cashier below the central text block. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 500 PESETAS / D EL BANCO DE ESPAÑA pagará al portador QUINIENTAS PESETAS Madrid 1º de Abril de 1880 EL GOBERNADOR / EL INTERVENTOR / EL CAJERO (Signatures of Martín Belda Mencía del Barrio `Marqués de Cabra`, Teodoro Rubio Castellanos and Fernando Pérez Casariego) (Translation: The Bank of Spain will pay the carrier Five Hundred Pesetas Madrid, 1st of April 1880 The Governor / The Auditor / The Cashier (Signatures of Martín Belda Mencía del Barrio `Marqués de Cabra`, Teodoro Rubio Castellanos and Fernando Pérez Casariego)) |
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| Comments |
The Banco de España began operating its own in-house printing workshop in the 1870s, and this 1880 issue is among the earlier products of that facility — a deliberate move toward self-sufficiency after years of dependence on foreign printers. The three signatures reflect the board structure of the period: governor, sub-governor, and cashier, each signing individually rather than via facsimile, which makes genuinely authenticated examples identifiable by hand pressure and ink variation across the sheet.
Martín Belda, Marqués de Cabra, served as governor during a period of considerable fiscal strain following the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1874. The 500 peseta denomination was not everyday currency — it circulated primarily in commercial and banking transactions, and surviving notes with any circulation wear are relatively uncommon precisely because so few hands outside trade ever touched one.