Description and research notes
This specimen note represents a distinct institutional handling variant of the five hundred pesos denomination of the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay issued under the monetary law of 2 January 1939. Produced as a non-circulating specimen, this note was intended for institutional reference, archival documentation, and internal control rather than for public monetary use.
By the late 1930s, the Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay served as the central pillar of the national monetary system, combining commercial banking operations with responsibility for currency issuance, financial regulation, and monetary stability. Within the denomination hierarchy of the 1939 series, the five hundred pesos occupied a high working tier below the one thousand pesos, associated with large-scale accounting, treasury activity, and upper-level commercial settlement rather than everyday circulation.
The obverse design presents a formal engraved composition characteristic of Thomas De La Rue and Company’s late-interwar intaglio production, with the denomination QUINIENTOS PESOS prominently integrated into an ornate architectural framework. This example is identified as Serie A and bears a controlled all-zero serial format, consistent with non-circulating specimen preparation.
Cancellation on this specimen is executed through a mechanical perforation process rather than printed or stamped ink. The sheet bears a perforated mark spelling “CANCELLED” diagonally across the design, rendering the note permanently non-monetary while preserving the clarity and legibility of the engraved artwork. No printed overprints, oval ink stamps, or specimen numbering are present. This restrained cancellation method represents a formal institutional protocol used to invalidate reference material without obscuring design details.
The reverse displays the complete agricultural allegorical scene associated with the five hundred pesos type, executed at the same engraving standard as circulation notes. The presence of the perforated cancellation confirms the note’s administrative invalidation while preserving its function as a complete institutional reference document.
Printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company of London, this perforated-cancel specimen documents one of the control mechanisms employed by Uruguay’s issuing bank and its security printer to differentiate institutional reference material from circulating currency while maintaining full design fidelity and archival completeness.