Description and research notes
This Serie A five hundred pesos specimen of the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay preserves a distinctive perforation-cancel format from the 1939 issue. Rather than relying on red ink overprints, numbered specimen inscriptions, or printer control stamps, the note was permanently invalidated by a diagonal perforated CANCELLED inscription cut directly through the paper. The result is a reference note whose monetary status was removed mechanically while its printed design remained almost completely unobstructed.
The five hundred pesos denomination belonged to the upper level of Uruguay's monetary structure. Its value, large physical format, and elaborate security printing identify it as an instrument intended for substantial banking, treasury, and commercial accounting. A specimen of this type served as a controlled record of the finished note, allowing the issuer and authorized institutions to examine the design, denomination, series, watermark, and production quality without placing a negotiable instrument into circulation.
The obverse is organized around the commanding QUINIENTOS PESOS inscription, framed by elaborate architectural and ornamental elements. The title of the Republica Oriental del Uruguay occupies the upper field, giving the state name visual priority over the monetary promise below. Serie A appears with an all-zero serial arrangement, a conventional control format that preserves the appearance and spacing of the circulation numbering system while clearly separating the piece from issued currency.
At right, the engraved portrait is integrated into a dense field of fine security linework and industrial imagery. The vignette reflects the visual vocabulary of economic modernization used throughout the issue, combining human representation with symbols of productive capacity and national development. The open oval at left provides space for the watermark and creates a carefully measured visual balance between the portrait, denomination panel, and surrounding security engraving.
The perforated CANCELLED inscription is the defining production feature of this example. Formed by a sequence of small openings through the sheet, it cannot be removed or altered without materially damaging the note. At the same time, the perforation leaves the underlying typography, engraving, and color structure visible, making the note suitable for technical comparison and institutional recordkeeping. Its restrained appearance distinguishes it from the visually heavier red-overprint specimens prepared under other control protocols.
The reverse presents the denomination's expansive agricultural composition, bringing together figures at work, livestock, cultivated land, and the wider rural economy. The scene transforms the reverse into a statement of national productivity, connecting the value represented on the face with the agricultural resources and labor that supported Uruguay's economy. Fine architectural framing and repeated denomination devices enclose the central vignette and reinforce the note's official character.
Printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited, this specimen records a specialized method of controlling high-value reference currency. Its importance lies not only in the five hundred pesos design itself, but in the survival of a distinct administrative format in which perforation, rather than printed ink, served as the permanent instrument of cancellation. It is a complete production-standard record of the Serie A type and a significant document of the security printer's institutional handling practices.