PUERTO RICAN PAPER MONEY

 

Puerto Rico has a rich paper money history. They were the first jurisdiction in the New World to issue local paper money because of a shortage of silver currency that was largely due to piracy. This was the beginning of Puerto Rico's lengthy history of lacking resources due to outside forces.

Provisional paper money known as tengos or papeletas as well as loans from merchants were adopted to confront this emergency. These items were prone to counterfeiting due to their simplicity, which prompted an official issuance of paper money for Puerto Rico in 1766. (Pedro Tomás de Córdova in 1832)

While there are records of the money from 1766, there are no surviving examples known. The earliest discovered example of this type of currency is a 1781 issue of the 8 Reales which would be a second issue in 1769 under Governor Muesas.

To address the persistent monetary crisis, Governor Salvador Meléndez Bruna approved the issuance of provincial papeletas in 1812, starting at 80,000 pesos and rising to 500,000 pesos by 1813. These notes remained in circulation until early 1816, when Intendant Alejandro Ramírez withdrew them as part of his financial reforms.

The 1812 and 1813 issues, authorized by Governor Salvador Meléndez Bruna and totaling 500,000 pesos, remained in circulation until their eventual withdrawal in 1816 under the financial reforms of Intendant Alejandro Ramírez. These emissions marked a pivotal phase in Puerto Rico's monetary crisis, precipitated by the permanent cessation of situado remittances.

Amid an acute fiscal crisis, Alejandro Ramírez emerged as the newly appointed intendant. He arrived in Puerto Rico from Guatemala on February 11, 1813, and held the position of Intendant of the Royal Treasury until early 1816, following the separation of that office from the Captaincy General under the Power Law drafted by Ramón Power in 1811. Ramírez promptly introduced measures to strengthen the public treasury, with his foremost priority being the amortization and withdrawal of the severely devalued paper currency in circulation, estimated at approximately 500,000 pesos.

Because the poorly printed papeletas were easily forged and fueled extreme inflation—at times reaching 300 percent—Ramírez later ordered higher-quality banknotes from Murray, Draper, Fairman & Co. in Philadelphia. Today, both the early papeletas and the later 3- and 5-peso notes are exceptionally rare and highly significant in Puerto Rican numismatic history.

To read the complete article, see:
A Deep Dive into Puerto Rican Paper Money (https://stacksbowers.com/a-deep-dive-into-puerto-rican-paper-money/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web