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500 Pesetas
| Issuer | Banco de España |
|---|---|
| Year | 1951 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 146 × 95 mm |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed portrait vignette of the sculptor Mariano Benlliure (1862–1947) occupies the left portion of the note, rendered in fine line engraving with the subject's name lettered below. The denomination numeral "500" appears in all four corners within ornate cartouches, and an elaborate guilloche underprint in pale tones fills the central field. Three manuscript signatures appear beneath the respective titles EL GOBERNADOR, EL INTERVENTOR, and EL CAJERO, with the issue date "MADRID, 15 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 1951" printed above them. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO DE ESPAÑA QUINIENTAS PESETAS 500 (Translation: Bank of Spain Five Hundred Pesetas) |
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| Comments |
Spain's postwar economy was still grinding through autarky in 1951 — import restrictions, rationing, and a black market that dwarfed the official one. A 500-peseta note was serious money in that environment, roughly equivalent to several weeks' wages for an industrial worker, and the denomination circulated in conditions of genuine scarcity rather than routine commerce.
Camilo Delhom engraved the obverse; his name appears on numerous Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre issues of the period, making him one of the most consistently employed intaglio engravers in mid-century Spanish note production. Joaquín Benjumea Burín, whose signature appears on this note as governor, had held that post since 1939 — his tenure at the Banco de España was one of the longest of the Franco period.