Description and research notes
A full-sheet specimen of the Banco de Zaragoza 200 reales vellón dated 14 May 1857, Serie B, serial number 07887, classified as Pick S452s. This complete production sheet preserves the entire printing layout: the upper header panel used for alignment and plate control, the left talón for internal audit numbering, and the full banknote plate. Full-sheet specimens from Spanish provincial banks in the 1850s are exceptionally rare, and survivals with both header and talón intact are almost unknown.
The Banco de Zaragoza was established in 1857 under the banking reforms of the Law of January 28, 1856, which authorized several provincial banks to issue their own currency. The bank followed a strict denomination-to-series structure: Serie A = 100 reales, Serie B = 200 reales, Serie C = 500 reales, Serie D = 1000 reales, Serie E = 2000 reales, Serie F = 4000 reales. Its issuing privilege lasted only until 1874, when all provincial banks were absorbed into the Banco de España and nearly all circulating notes were redeemed and destroyed, leaving specimen and archival material as the primary survivors.
Pick S452s identifies the specimen variety of this emission, distinct from issued notes and remainders. The engraving reflects the Madrid-school style: a large Spanish coat of arms, elaborately engraved acanthus borders, and formal typographic promise text payable in Zaragoza. The talón repeats the same serial number, confirming its original audit pairing.
Rarity is extreme. PMG census data for Pick S432 includes material from multiple unrelated banks and does not record any examples from Zaragoza. No full-sheet S452s specimens from Banco de Zaragoza appear in PMG databases or in major Spanish auction archives (Aureo & Calicó, Cayón, Soler y Llach, Vico). This survival, retaining header, talón, and note on a single uncut sheet, qualifies as R8+ and may be unique.
This specimen forms a matched typological pair with the standard specimen Serie B, No. 07958 (Pick S452s) also in the collection, together documenting both the production-sheet format and the standard specimen format of the 200 reales vellón emission.