Description and research notes
This specimen note represents the one thousand pesos denomination of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay issued under the monetary law of 2 January 1939, a period that marks the mature phase of state-directed banking and currency policy in Uruguay. Produced as an official non-circulating specimen, this note was created for institutional reference, printer archives, and controlled distribution among central banking authorities, government departments, and international financial correspondents, rather than for public monetary use.
The Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay, established in 1896, had by the late 1930s consolidated its role as the principal state banking institution, combining commercial operations with responsibility for currency issuance, monetary stabilization, and credit regulation. The one thousand pesos denomination represented the highest denomination issued within Uruguay’s paper money system at the time. It was reserved for interbank settlement, treasury accounting, and large-scale financial operations, and was never intended for routine circulation within the retail economy. Specimen examples of this denomination therefore document the administrative and institutional layer of the monetary system rather than everyday transactional use.
The obverse design presents an engraved portrait of José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay’s foundational national figure, rendered in a formal classical style characteristic of Thomas De La Rue and Company’s late-interwar intaglio production. The denomination MIL PESOS dominates the central cartouche, surrounded by an elaborate ornamental framework designed to convey authority, permanence, and state legitimacy. This example is identified as Serie D and bears a controlled all-zero serial format, accompanied by the printed designation SPECIMEN No. 23 at the lower left margin, confirming its position within a numbered specimen sequence.
Cancellation on the obverse is executed through a fully developed printed system. A bold diagonal red SPECIMEN overprint traverses the central field, reinforced by two red oval SPECIMEN stamps positioned near the upper left and right portions of the design. This layered cancellation configuration represents one of the principal specimen handling protocols employed for the issue, ensuring unmistakable identification while deliberately preserving the integrity and legibility of the engraved artwork.
The reverse displays the allegorical equestrian scene associated with the one thousand pesos type, a composition that evokes national authority, continuity, and movement. Executed at the same engraving standard as circulation notes, the reverse underscores the specimen’s role as a complete reference document rather than a provisional or simplified printing.
Printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company of London, this specimen embodies the technical, institutional, and symbolic dimensions of Uruguay’s late-interwar paper currency. It stands as a documentary artifact of state banking practice, high-denomination monetary architecture, and the formal mechanisms through which the highest-value designs were approved, recorded, and preserved at the administrative level. The assigned grade is recorded here solely as descriptive metadata and does not define the historical or institutional significance of the piece.