Description and research notes
Issued by the Departamento de Emision del Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay, this photographic proof pair preserves the completed face and reverse designs of the 1939 one peso Serie A banknote in archival photographic form. The two monochrome impressions document the full visual program of the denomination outside the conventional sequence of engraved proofs, color trials, specimens, and issued notes, recording the design as a coordinated face-and-reverse reference ensemble.
Each photographic proof is mounted on its own original cardstock support and certified separately by Professional Coin Grading Service Currency as 64 Very Choice New. The face proof is identified on the grading label as the 1939 one peso Serie A design with all-zero serial numbers, while the reverse proof is recorded as the corresponding undated back design. Preserved together, the pair provides a complete archival record of both sides of the denomination.
The face photograph reproduces the formal Serie A layout authorized under the law of 2 January 1939. The institutional title of the Departamento de Emision del Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay spans the upper field, while the denomination UN PESO and MONEDA NACIONAL occupy the central ornamental structure. Serie A appears within the design, accompanied by all-zero serial numbers that preserve the appearance and spacing of the production numbering system.
At right appears the engraved portrait of Jose Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay's principal national hero and the central symbolic figure of the denomination. His military dress, firm expression, and carefully modeled features create a portrait of authority and historical continuity. The photographic proof preserves the portrait in monochrome, making the underlying engraved line structure, tonal modeling, and relationship to the surrounding security ornament especially clear.
The national arms appear at left within a wreath and ornamental field, balancing the portrait across the face. Between these two principal elements, the denomination is embedded within a complex arrangement of geometric security patterns, repeating textual devices, scrollwork, and architectural framing. The design combines portraiture, heraldry, monetary value, and institutional authority within a compact but highly organized composition.
The reverse photograph presents a maritime scene dominated by a large sailing vessel moving across open water, accompanied by additional ships on the horizon. Architectural columns frame the composition at left and right, while the denomination UN PESO anchors the lower center. The scene connects the note with maritime commerce, Atlantic navigation, and Uruguay's long relationship with the port of Montevideo and the wider trading world.
The ships are rendered through dense engraved linework that defines sails, rigging, hulls, waves, clouds, and distant vessels with remarkable clarity. The central ship provides the principal point of movement, while the smaller vessels establish depth and transform the reverse into a broad maritime panorama. The architectural border gives the scene the formal structure of a national monetary design rather than a standalone illustration.
The photographic pair corresponds directly to the completed Serie A design represented by the related Pick 35as specimen. Both preserve the same all-zero Serie A layout, portrait of Jose Gervasio Artigas, national arms, denomination structure, ornamental face design, and sailing-ship reverse. The finished specimen demonstrates how the monochrome photographic record translated into the brown security-printed note produced by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited.
This relationship gives the pair exceptional documentary value. The photographic proofs preserve the complete design as archival images, while the related Pick 35as specimen records the same composition as a finished, numbered, and printer-cancelled reference note. Viewed together, the photographic pair and specimen form a surviving design-to-production sequence for the 1939 one peso Serie A denomination.
The photographic format also reveals aspects of the design that can be less immediately visible in the finished multitone note. Without the distraction of production color, the photographs emphasize the engraved architecture of the design, including the distribution of light and dark areas, the density of the guilloche fields, the modeling of the Artigas portrait, and the layered construction of the maritime reverse.
Photographic proofs served as durable reference records within the documentary structure of security printing. They allowed completed banknote designs to be preserved, compared, reviewed, and retained without requiring additional plate impressions. Their cardstock mounting gave the photographs physical stability and created an archival presentation suitable for filing, handling, and long-term institutional reference.
The underlying banknote was printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited, whose imprint appears beneath the maritime reverse on the related finished specimen. The design reflects the firm's ability to combine national portraiture, heraldic symbolism, maritime imagery, geometric security engraving, and architectural ornament within a small-denomination note of exceptional visual coherence.
Certified Professional Coin Grading Service Currency 64 Very Choice New for both the face and reverse, this photographic proof pair survives as a complete archival ensemble. Its importance rests in the combination of the Serie A layout, all-zero serial configuration, original cardstock mounts, Jose Gervasio Artigas portrait, sailing-ship reverse, separate face-and-back certification, and direct correspondence with the finished Pick 35as specimen. It is a major documentary record of Uruguay's 1939 one peso design and of the archival methods used to preserve the complete visual identity of a national banknote.