Description and research notes
This engraved portrait vignette die proof was produced by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London, for the Banco de San Juan 5 Pesos Fuertes issue of 1876. The vignette depicts a classical female figure wearing a wreath and draped garment, engraved within an oval portrait format. The same portrait appears at the center of the completed Banco de San Juan banknote, where it forms the principal pictorial element of the design.
The proof bears the Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. engravers' imprint beneath the portrait together with die number 165. It was printed separately during the production process, preserving the central portrait as an individual engraved component before its incorporation into the completed banknote plate.
Vignette die proofs were produced so that individual engraved elements could be examined independently before being combined with borders, lettering, denomination devices, emblems and other features of the finished note. This example shows the portrait in its standalone production form, without the surrounding framework later used on the completed 5 Pesos Fuertes design.
In the finished banknote, the portrait occupies the central oval beneath the inscription EL BANCO DE SAN JUAN. It is flanked by a sheep vignette at left and the provincial coat of arms at right, with large denomination numerals in the four corners and CINCO PESOS FUERTES incorporated into the principal denomination panels.
The corresponding Banco de San Juan specimen is dated 1876 and cataloged as Pick S1881s. It carries serial number D 006001 and a perforated SPECIMEN / BW&Co cancellation. The completed specimen preserves the same portrait engraving in its final position within the banknote composition.
Together, the die proof and the completed specimen document two stages in the production of the same Banco de San Juan issue: the separately engraved portrait and its later incorporation into the finished security-printed design.
