BANKNOTES

July 17, 1799. National Bank of San Carlos. Office for the Redemption of Royal Vouchers. La Coruña. 1500 reales de vellón. (Edifil-no) (Filabo 29BCN). With two signatures, "Frigola" and "Fernández de Navarrete". Some insignificant wormholes and two pin marks. Some dirt. Few known examples. These Redemption Offices were created to alleviate the problem of metal redemption that plagued the royal vouchers (which lost up to 50% of their nominal value). They were founded in the most important Spanish cities, one of them being La Coruña. They were in charge of exchanging the vouchers for metal or converting them into lower-denomination certificates, whose use would be easier for commercial transactions. Every year they had to be renewed in order to collect interest and exchanged for another with a different design. This example is the voucher with the highest value issued by the Redemption Offices and was designed and engraved by José Asensio.