Description and research notes
Numbered Specimen No. 9, this Serie B one hundred pesos note preserves a fully developed black-overprint reference format prepared by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited for the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Its controlled identity is expressed through the prefix B all-zero serial number, the printed specimen number, a large diagonal SPECIMEN inscription, and oval printer stamps applied across both faces.
The low specimen number gives the note a precise documentary position within its distribution sequence. Specimen No. 9 was an individually accountable reference object, allowing the printer or receiving institution to distinguish it from other examples of the same denomination and series. The number forms part of its archival identity together with Serie B and the zero serial arrangement.
The obverse places the national arms at the center of an elaborate security composition. CIEN PESOS and MONEDA NACIONAL are integrated into layered guilloche panels, while the title of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay occupies the upper field. The organization presents state authority, denomination, and monetary obligation as a single unified structure.
The allegorical female figure at right holds the Constitution, embodying the legal order from which the currency derives its authority. Classical drapery and civic symbolism are combined with industrial and architectural imagery, creating a visual narrative in which republican law and economic modernization operate together. Thomas De La Rue's intaglio engraving gives the figure and surrounding elements a refined tonal range built from closely controlled linework.
A diagonal black SPECIMEN inscription crosses the face with strong visual authority. Oval SPECIMEN DE LA RUE AND COMPANY LIMITED NO VALUE stamps at the upper left and lower right add formal printer authentication to the cancellation system. The markings establish the note as a controlled institutional specimen while retaining the complete structure of the underlying design.
The reverse presents a sweeping scene of public assembly before monumental architecture. Numerous figures and flags create a sense of national ceremony, while the surrounding engraved border gives the historical scene the formal character of an official state image. The denomination is repeated prominently within the frame, linking the narrative composition directly to the monetary value.
The black SPECIMEN overprint continues across the reverse, accompanied by a corresponding printer control stamp. This two-sided treatment creates a complete cancellation format in which both principal surfaces carry visible evidence of institutional control and printer authority.
As Serie B, Specimen No. 9, this note combines a low numbered position with a comprehensive black cancellation system. It is an important record of the finished one hundred pesos design, the symbolic program of Uruguay's 1939 currency, and the formal specimen-management procedures maintained by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited.