Description and research notes
An exceptional issued consecutive pair of 2000 reales vellón banknotes from the Banco de Zaragoza, dated Zaragoza, 14 May 1857, Serie E, serial numbers 00031 and 00032. Catalogued as Pick S455, this pair represents one of the earliest surviving serial groupings of the highest denomination issued by the bank and illustrates the original form in which such notes were placed into circulation.
The Banco de Zaragoza operated during Spain’s brief liberal banking period following the 1856 reforms, when select provincial banks were authorised to issue their own circulating paper currency. Zaragoza structured its emissions by denomination through alphabetic series, with Serie E corresponding to 2000 reales vellón. These high-denomination notes were intended for large commercial settlements and institutional use, resulting in extremely low survival rates once redemption and withdrawal policies were enforced.
Consecutive issued pairs of Serie E are virtually unknown. Most surviving examples of the 2000 reales denomination appear as isolated single notes, often heavily circulated and later cancelled. The preservation of two consecutive serials—00031 and 00032—offers rare insight into the original issuance sequence and handling of Zaragoza’s largest circulating notes.
Both notes are fully executed with manuscript signatures of the Comisario Regio, Director, Interventor, and Cajero, and each displays the characteristic circular cancellation punch applied upon redemption. Despite circulation wear consistent with their function, the engraved detail remains clear, retaining the distinctive mid-nineteenth-century Madrid-school engraving style employed for Zaragoza’s 1857 series.
True issued examples of Pick S455 are scarcely represented in collections or auction archives, and consecutive pairs elevate rarity significantly beyond that of single survivors. Based strictly on observed specimens and documented survivals, this issued pair qualifies as R9, placing it among the most important extant artifacts of Spain’s provincial banking era.