500 Pesetas

This banknote never circulated, it was not issued. There are only print tests in different colors.
The date does not appear on the banknote (January 23, 1925).

After several attempts to produce banknotes again in the workshops of the Bank of Spain during the first two decades of the 20th century, with little success (issue of 1903-1905) or practically none during the period of Bradbury dominance (unissued banknotes of 1908, 1914, 1915), the engravers of the Bank made a last attempt to demonstrate their capabilities. The 1,000 peseta note of May 1907, despite formally matching the issue of 1906-1907 and not the reserve of 1907, was put into circulation as late as January 30, 1925. Barely a week earlier, the 500 peseta note of 1925 with the image of Cardinal Cisneros was dated. It is possible that the engravers' idea was to take advantage of the introduction of a "national" banknote after two decades of English domination to give a final push to the original project of producing the banknotes in the Bank's workshops. But the reality is that on the same date, January 30, 1925, the 500 peseta note of July 1907 also entered circulation, which would ruin the idea that the Cisneros note would be successful. Perhaps they thought of using it as a reserve issue in anticipation of the acceptance of the famous "Angel." The circumstances of this frustrated issue, which did not go beyond the test phase, are therefore unclear. What does seem evident is that a few years later the same idea of ​​dedicating a banknote to Cardinal Cisneros did have a happy ending. These 500 peseta tests are quite rare and there are quite a few variants, with or without backgrounds and in different colors.

Banknote test in different colors (Image from Subastas Ibercoin)

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436 – 8 November 1517) was a Spanish cardinal, religious figure, and statesman. Starting from humble beginnings he rose to the heights of power, becoming a religious reformer, twice regent of Spain, Cardinal, Grand Inquisitor, promoter of the Crusades in North Africa, and founder of the Alcalá University. Among his intellectual accomplishments, he is best known for funding the Complutensian Polyglot Bible, the first printed polyglot version of the entire Bible. He also edited and published the first printed editions of the missal (in 1500) and the breviary (in 1502) of the Mozarabic Rite, and established a chapel with a college of thirteen priests to celebrate the Mozarabic Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharist each day in the Toledo Cathedral.