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500 Reales de Vellón Banco de Santander
| Issuer | Banco de Santander |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Reales Vellon |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is engraved in a fine letterpress style with an elaborate scrollwork border enclosing the full composition. A central vignette presents a tall-masted sailing ship at sea beside a lighthouse, flanked by decorative foliate banners. The denomination Rv.on 500 appears in an oval cartouche at centre, with hand-written date lines, serial numbers in ribbon scrolls at left and right reading Nº 03451, and four manuscript signature blocks assigned to El Comisario Regio, El Director-Gerente, El Presidente de la Junta, and El Cajero. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, showing only the plain paper stock with faint show-through of the obverse engraving visible under raking light, along with two circular cancellation punch holes. |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Santander was one of dozens of provincial Spanish banks authorized under the 1856 banking law, which briefly permitted regional note issuance before the Banco de España systematically absorbed that privilege over the following two decades. This 500 Reales de Vellón note dates from the bank's earliest years of operation — the reales de vellón denomination itself was already archaic by this point, Spain having officially adopted the escudo system in 1864, meaning notes like this one had a very short window of relevance before redenomination rendered them obsolete.
Provincial Spanish issues from this period survive in tiny numbers. Most were redeemed and pulped during the consolidation period rather than retained as specimens.