Currencies of Puerto Rico
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Economy of Puerto Rico |
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The currencies of Puerto Rico closely follow the historic development of
The situado was discontinued during the 19th century, creating an economic crisis, as a result of
On August 13, 1898, the
Early licenses issued by the Spanish Crown
After Juan Ponce de León began the colonization process of Puerto Rico, the archipelago became a strategic military location, used by Spain to protect its colonies and possessions in America.[1] Vessels used it as the main point for resupplying before attempting long voyages and trading became a key part of the economy. However, when the mines and rivers in the main island of Puerto Rico, then known as San Juan Bautista, were depleted Puerto Rico began suffering from a shortage of gold and its income was reduced drastically, precipitating a recession.[1] Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish Crown was forced to issue a monetary support decree to the archipelago known as situado, which was supplied by the Royal banks in Central America, particularly Mexico.[2] However, this aid failed to arrive often, contributing to the economical instability. This was exacerbated by other factors, including the costs of running an efficient military and a lack of commercial prosperity. Natural conditions and disasters also contributed, multiplying the costs of maintaining fortresses while hurricanes damaged haciendas, destroying crops and shortening the amount of laborers.[2]
Municipalities suffered most, being forced to implement taxes, including the alcaba del viento (lit. "wind tax"), which was imposed on foreign suppliers. However, these taxes barely helped, this was because each one had to receive a Royal certification, a bureaucratic procedure which usually lasted several years. Once they reached an established deadline, the process would have to be repeated, taking an extended amount of time. From January 1, 1636, to December 15, 1637,
Birth of the Puerto Rican peso
Peso Puertorriqueño (Spanish) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
Unit | |||||
Plural | pesos | ||||
Denominations | |||||
Subunit | |||||
1⁄100 | centavo | ||||
Banknotes | 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 ps[6] | ||||
Coins | 5, 10, 20, 40 centavos, 1 peso | ||||
Demographics | |||||
Date of introduction | 31 August 1812 | ||||
User(s) | Captaincy General of Puerto Rico | ||||
Issuance | |||||
Central bank | El Banco Español de Puerto Rico List
| ||||
Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid, Spain | |||||
Website | www.fnmt.es/en |
In the 19th century, the issuing of situado concluded, with two last deliveries of 500,000 and 100,000 between 1809 and 1810.[7] This brought forth a critical economical crisis to Puerto Rico. At the moment, Salvador Meléndez Bruna, the colonial governor in office, ordered the production of provincial paper money. The decree was officially enacted on August 31, 1812. These banknotes used the peso being used as equivalent to Spanish reales.[7] Produced by hand, these banknotes featured quantities in the thousands, with 1 peso being worth 8 reales.[7] Mechanical printing had arrived to Puerto Rico years earlier, but up until 1813, part of the issued notes were being produced by hand and stamped. Between 1812 and 1813, the tradition of collecting paper money continued, which reduced the amount of surviving banknotes drastically.[7] The other notes printed between 1813 and 1814, featured a combination of printed types and stamps.[8] The printing was done by Puerto Rico's National Printing Office and featured patterns to prevent the production of counterfeits.[9] Those featuring denominations in reales, were adorned by Spain's Royal Seal, with the color varying depending on the date of issue, the 1813 8-real banknotes featured a lamb on the obverse.[9] However, these security measures were ineffective against counterfeiting, eventually copies of several denominations were circulating in a widespread manner, forcing cities outside of San Juan, Arecibo and Loiza to discontinue their use. Meléndez Bruna decided that the only way to prevent forgery was by asking Spain to produce sealed paper for the printing of the banknotes.[9] The first issue bore the signatures of treasurers or accountants, but this was dropped the subsequent year.[10]
End of the Cádiz Constitution
On February 11, 1813, Alejandro Ramírez arrived to Puerto Rico and almost immediately was named to the office of Intendant, eventually establishing a Consulate of Commerce to control trade in Puerto Rico.[11] Originally from Guatemala, where he had served in various political positions, Ramírez was also a member of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society. The Diario Económico de Puerto Rico, a newspaper specialized in the archipelago's economy, noted that during the time banknotes of all denominations were still being forged in large quantities.[12] The publication claimed that the counterfeits were most likely produced in other locations of the Caribbean, this was based on the fact that only one royal press existed in Puerto Rico.[12] However, modern researchers maintain that the copies could have been produced locally in a clandestine manner. This is based on a report that emphasizes that the designs of false 8-real notes were crude and that the ink used spread when touched, something that wouldn't be possible if produced elsewhere, particularly because the ink would dry in the voyage between countries.[12] During this time, paper notes began disappearing and the stated recurred to renewing old pieces.[13]
In 1814,
Real Tesorería de Puerto Rico | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Obverse | Value | Obverse description | Issued | Withdrawn | |||
3 pesos | Coat of arms of Spain | 1815 | |||||
5 pesos | King Ferdinand VII |
1819 | |||||
Engraved and printed by: Murray, Draper, Fairman and Co.[15]
|
Reemergence of paper money
The negative perception created by the issue of paper money between 1813 and 1815, brought the production of banknotes to a halt, while only coins circulated in the archipelago.[16] In 1865, the Spanish Civil Code was imposed in Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the Caja de Ahorros was founded in San Juan, a small bank, which provided an annual interest of up to 6% to its subscribers.[17] The institution was bankrupted in 1879, but its business model was followed by other banks founded in the southern region of Puerto Rico. The Caja de Ahorros de Ponce (lit. "Ponce Savings Bank") was founded in 1873 and continued in business until 1879.[16] The institution issued notes in denominations of 1, 3, 5 and 50 pesos which were printed by the P.W. Derhan firm. These bills were only printed in one side and were signed by members of the bank's board of directors, which was composed by eminent Puerto Rican citizens.[16] These were redeemed mostly in Ponce and co-existed along tokens issued by local business entities.[16]
In 1868, the Central Republican Board of Cuba and Puerto Rico was founded. The group organized expeditions to Cuba, offering supplies to movements that supported the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba.[18] Founded by José Francisco Basora, a Puerto Rican revolutionary and friend of Ramón Emeterio Betances, the group had connections within the wealthy sugar industry in the larger antille. Bonds for quantities of 100, 500 and 1,000 pesos were printed between June 1 and November 1, 1869, in order to cover the expenses of the two planned revolutions. On August 17, 1869, the board issued notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 20 pesos, these were produced to establish an affordable alternative to the bonds.[19] All of these issues circulated throughout North and South America as well as the Caribbean.[19] Although they were widespread in the Spanish processions, their use was kept clandestine to avoid imprisonment by the royal authorities. However, none of them was redeemed due to the failure of the Ten Years' War and Little War in Cuba.[19] On December 17, 1866, Maria Christina of Austria signed a decree which authorized the auctioning of a railroad in Puerto Rico.[20] In 1888, Ivo Bosch y Puig, an engineer from Catalonia, received the concession to put the project in march. In Madrid, Bosch y Puig established the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico (lit. "Puerto Rico Railroad Company").[20] During this decade, Charles Skipper and East produced 5-peso banknotes in England, which were circulated after receiving the signatures of Bosch y Puig and an unidentified associate.[20]
The provincial coin
Denomination | Image | Obverse | Quantity | Comp | Edge | Issued | Mint |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 centavos | Date, value | 600,000 | Silver (.835) | Reeded | 1896 | Spanish Royal Mint | |
10 centavos | Alfonso XIII
of Spain |
700,000 | Silver (.835) | Reeded | 1896 | ||
20 centavos | 3,350,000 | Silver (.835) | Reeded | 1895 | |||
40 centavos | 725,000 | Silver (.835) | Reeded | 1896 | |||
1 Peso | 8,500,000 | Silver (.900) | 27 Fleur-de-lis | 1895 | |||
^1 Source:[21][22] Engraver: B.M. Bartolomé Maura y Montaner.[23] |
Due to its strategic location, currencies from several countries began circulating in Puerto Rico and used as trade. The government often ordered the collection of these coins in exchange for exchange notes. The first of these took place in 1857, when a royal decree ordered the gathering of macuquina coins.[24] These arrived to Puerto Rico in 1813, originally produced by Spain in Venezuela. Due to Spanish manufacture, the exchange notes issued for the macuquina featured a 12.5% discount, which left a significant deficit in the government's budget.[24] A decade later, coins were brought from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. Consequently, the distribution of foreign coins received authorization.[24] In 1879, the circulation of Mexican silver was approved in government and official entities, eventually allowing public distribution in 1881. However, some saw an opportunity for profit in this and bought Mexican pesos outside of Puerto Rico before importing them, in the process gaining a profit of up to 40 centavos per peso.[25] In 1884, a number of different coins were countermarked with a fleur-de-lis for circulation on Puerto Rico. Spanish 2, 4 and 8 reales, and 5 and 10 centimos, United States' 20 cents, quarters, halves and dollars were all countermarked and used until they were redeemed in 1894. By 1895, the coins circulating in Puerto Rico were mostly Mexican silver, creating a shortage of currency. To resolve this, Spain issued a Royal Decree stating that the Mexican coins were to be replaced by ones minted in Madrid, with special coins created exclusively for Puerto Rico.[25] To execute this move, exchange notes in one-peso denomination were created. Once the exchange concluded in 1896, the provincial coin was already in circulation.[25] Silver 20 centavos and 1 peso coins were introduced in 1895, followed in 1896 by silver 5, 10 and 40 centavos. The 1 peso coins bore the denomination as "1 PESO = 5 P.TAS". These exchanges heavily affected the government's economy.[26] Some years later, Ceredo Millán a commercial firm in San Juan obtained some of the now-obsolete Exchange Notes, which were converted into souvenirs and offered as gifts to their clients.[26]
Banco Español de Puerto Rico
On May 23, 1887, Maria Christina of Austria and Victor Balaguer, Spain's Overseas Minister, signed a royal decree proposing the creation of a royal bank in Puerto Rico.[27] A waiting period of three months was imposed to those interested in pursuing the project, who had to present a business proposal as dictated by the order. Two proposals were formally presented and taken under consideration.[27] One of these, was presented by the Sociedad Anónima de Crédito Mercantil de Puerto Rico (lit. "Puerto Rico Mercantile Credit Company"), which was represented by Manuel Vicente Rodríguez, Enrique Vijande, Guillermo Mullenhoff, Pablo Ubarri Capetillo and José Caldas, with all of them serving as the group's directors.[27] The other one was presented by a coalition of French and Spanish bankers. The proposal which bore the signature of Francisco Lastres and Eulogio Despujols, who acted as their representatives, was ultimately accepted.[27]
On May 5, 1888, a second royal decree was issue, officializing the creation of the Banco Español de Puerto Rico, which received a charter validity of 25 years. This grant of authority was awarded to Enrique Vijande y Loredo, José Caldas y Caldas and Pablo Ubarri, the members composing this partnership.[28] The bank wasn't established immediately, this was because the currency being used in Puerto Rico was Mexican silver, which created problems and delayed the establishment date until early 1890. Until this point, the Sociedad Anónima de Crédito Mercantil de Puerto Rico continued in service, before disappearing in April.[28]
El Banco Español de Puerto Rico notes[29] | ||||||
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Image | Value | Description | Date | |||
Front | Reverse | Front | Reverse | Issued | ||
Series A | ||||||
5 pesos | Paschal Lamb, seated child | Crowned Spanish arms |
1890 | |||
10 pesos | Paschal Lamb, sailors | 1889/1890 | ||||
20 pesos | Paschal Lamb, longshoremen |
1889/1890 | ||||
50 pesos | Paschal Lamb, Columbus sighting land | 1889/1890 | ||||
100 pesos | Christopher Columbus, allegorical women, Paschal Lamb |
1890 | ||||
200 pesos | "Lady Justice" (Justicia), allegorical woman, Paschal Lamb | 1890 | ||||
Series B (never circulated) | ||||||
Series D | ||||||
5 pesos | Queen Regent Maria Cristina, seated child | Crowned Spanish arms |
1 December 1894 2 March 1896 3 November 1896 1 July 1897 | |||
10 pesos | Queen Regent Maria Cristina, sailors | |||||
20 pesos | Queen Regent Maria Cristina, dock workers
| |||||
50 pesos | Queen Regent Maria Cristina, Christopher Columbus sighting land | |||||
100 pesos | Christopher Columbus, allegorical women, Queen Regent Maria Cristina | |||||
200 pesos | "Lady Justice", allegorical woman, Queen Regent Maria Cristina | 1895-97 | ||||
Series C / Provisional issue / United States Administration1 |
Note: Printed by:
During this timeframe, they produced 100-peso banknotes featuring the lamb, Puerto Rico's official emblem. The bank was inaugurated on February 1, 1890, with Juan Róspide y Navarro and José Manuel López Sainz as governor and vice governor respectively. The Royal Decree permitted the issuing of paper money in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 pesos. Series D began distribution on December 1, 1894; this became the first time that the lamb, which had continued being used since the days of the Sociedad Anónima de Crédito Mercantil de Puerto Rico, was replaced by the profile of Maria Christina of Austria. The Ministerio de Ultramar issued 1 peso notes in 1895.
American invasion and decline
Dólar Puertoriqueño ( American Bank Note Co. N.Y. | |
---|---|
Website | www.abnote.com |
Valuation | |
Pegged with | United States dollar |
On August 13, 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States as part of the
Parallel to the Bank of Puerto Rico, American investors saw an opportunity to establish banks in Puerto Rico. The first of these was the American Colonial Bank, which opened in 1899.[38]
Bank of Porto Rico | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front | Reverse | Value | Portrait | Reverse | Issued | ||
Series F | |||||||
$5 | Christopher Columbus | Allegorical woman
|
1 July 1909 | ||||
$10 | Juan Ponce de León | Liberty
|
1 July 1909 |
The establishment of national banks was proposed to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, with charters being eventually established in June 1900. The requirements for establishing a bank under this grant of authority, demanded that at least three-fourths of the board of directors lived in Puerto Rico at least for a year.[39] It took the group two years to meet these regulations, but in 1902 the First National Bank of Porto Rico was inaugurated, with Andrés Crosas from San Juan serving as its president. The bank began issuing notes in denominations of 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars which were manufactured by October 27, 1902, even before all of the requirements were met.[39]
Collection value and numismatic study
The remaining exemplars of Puerto Rican currency have gathered significant value with the years, particularly in the United States.[40] The value of them within the collectors of that country is due to the special nature of the post-1898 issues. Since they were issued under the same Spanish provincial charter, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing classifies them as "territorial" currency, this being the only unit of exchange of this kind that is recognized by the United States Department of the Treasury.[40]
Objects from Puerto Rico are constantly featured in specialized magazines, in both national and international distribution.[41] The Puerto Rican dollars that were collected by the government, were burned between January 16–24, 1925, drastically reducing the amount of surviving notes from the Bank of Puerto Rico.[37] The Great Depression reduced their numbers further, since necessity prevented the collection of pesos in large denominations.[37] Thus less than five exemplars are known to exist of the 100 and 200 peso banknotes issued by El Banco Español de Puerto Rico and the 5 and 10 dollars Series F bills published by the Bank of Puerto Rico.[42]
Similarly, the other notes issued by this banks range from scarce to rare.[42] The banknotes from the First National Bank of Porto Rico are particularly scarce, this is because the institution's issues didn't even reach quantities of 20. Only two bills from the $100 denomination have been known to survive, similarly two from the $20 issue are left, with one of them being acquired by Amon G. Carter before his death.[43] Carter was known to exhibit the piece, but didn't make it available for sale. More than a dozen $10 banknotes survived, seldom appearing at auctions.[40] Other extremely rare banknotes include the 2 and 4 real notes of 1813 and all of the denominations issued by the Caja de Ahorros de Ponce.[42] In contrast, the paper money used by the Puerto Rico Railroad Company is still known to appear occasionally in the market. Outside of these, the clandestine bills issued by the Central Republican Board of Cuba and Puerto Rico, range from scarce (5-peso bill) to extremely rare (20-peso notes).[44]
In Puerto Rico, the Sociedad Numismática de Puerto Rico (lit. "Numismatic Society of Puerto Rico") was founded in 1949.[45] The society is usually composed of 25 to 50 members and it focuses in collecting and distributing both coins and banknotes from Puerto Rico to interested collectors. An annual exhibition along the Sociedad Filatelica de Puerto Rico (lit. "Philatelic Society of Puerto Rico") has been held in Plaza Las Américas since the commercial center's inauguration.[41] Outside of this activity, Puerto Rican currency can be found locally in philatelic and numismatic as well as flea markets.[46] At auctions, banknotes have been known to surpass bid that are up to 70,000 dollars. The collection of cardboard samples given by banks to numismatic merchants, has also been noted among enthusiasts.[47]
Other issued currency
In 2005, the
In December 2007, the
See also
- Cuban peso
- Spanish dollar
- Spanish peseta
- Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean
- Currencies of the British West Indies
References
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 26
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 28
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 29
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 31
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 32
- ^ Catalogo Del Papel Moneda de Puerto Rico. Catalog of paper money of Puerto Rico. (Page: 21)
- ^ a b c d Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 33
- ^ "Orden del gobierno para la circulacion de la plata menuda y calderilla y que todos los negocios se hagan indistintamente en plata ò papel con la perdida establecida : Puerto Rico. Governor (1809-1820 : Meléndez y Bruna)". October 23, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 34
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 35
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 36
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 37
- ^ a b c d e Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 38
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 39
- ^ a b Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine - 1368-1960, Volume 2 By George S. Cuhaj
- ^ a b c d Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 44
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 43
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 40
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 41
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 45
- ^ coindatabase.com Puerto Rican coins 1895 -1896.
- ^ Puerto Rico - Peso (1890–1898) Puerto Rico coins
- ^ Spanish coins issued for Isla de Puerto Rico.
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 56
- ^ a b c Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 57
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p.58
- ^ a b c d Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 47
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 48
- ISBN 9781304225030. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 49
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 51
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 50
- Primera Hora (in Spanish). Archivedfrom the original on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 52
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 53
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 54
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 55
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 59
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 60
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 22
- ^ a b Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 14
- ^ a b c Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 219
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 21
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 42
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 13
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 16
- ^ Costa, Rodríguez-Vázquez et al., p. 23
- ^ "Liberty Dollar News: October 2005 Vol. 7 No.10" (PDF). LibertyDollar.org. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Liberty Dollar". International Business Group & Affiliates, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Culpable Alfredo Pacheco Martínez por fraude y lavado de dinero". Primera hora (in Spanish). 2013-06-29.
- ^ Mariana Cobián (2013-08-21). "Casi 20 años de cárcel por millonario fraude a inversionistas". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- ^ a b Puerto Rico tendrá su peseta (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2007-12-20.
- ^ a b "The District of Columbia and United States Territories Quarter Program". United States Mint. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Coins and Medals: Puerto Rico". United States Mint. Archived from the original on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ "2009 Puerto Rico Quarter: Coin Information and Images". State Quarters: Guide to 50 State Quarters Program. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ "National Site Quarters Program - America the Beautiful". United States Mint. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
Sources
- Humberto Costa; Eduardo Rodríguez-Vázquez (2007). The Notes of the Island of Puerto Rico: The Humberto Costa Collection (1st (Limited) ed.). Puerto Rico: ISBN 978-1-59608-292-2.
- Pick, Albert (1994). ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
- Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). ISBN 0873411501.
- Pick, Albert (1990). ISBN 0-87341-149-8.
External links
- Puerto Rico Monetary History
- Sociedad Numismática de Puerto Rico (in Spanish)
- Historia de la Moneda y Numismática en Puerto Rico (in Spanish)