Proposed 50c and $1 issues
After Huerta relaxed the restrictions of the Ley General de Instituciones de Crédito on 19 November 1913, and in light of the changing economic situation, the Banco de Aguascalientes considered issuing lower denomination notes, and spoke with their normal supplier. On 4 April 1914, Charles Blackmore, the American Bank Note Company’s Resident Agent in Mexico City, wrote to New York requesting a price for 14,000 $5 notes, 3,000 $10, and 80,000 $1 and 40,000 50 centavos notes. He added that as the last two denominations were new notes, the company would have to prepare plates. The company replied on 8 April with a price for the two existing denominations but requested more details for the other two. The next day it wrote; “This Bank’s $5 and $10 notes are of the same size – quite a large note, and carry two vignettes. Do they desire the $1 and 50 ct. notes to be of the same size and with the same vignettes? Or will they want these two smaller denominations to be smaller, with but one vignette? This is what we would suggest as being the best scheme, since in this way we may give them not only a better delivery, but a lower price as well. This however you know as well as we do, and we shall await hearing from you by letter giving us all of these details.”.
However, on 6 May Blackmore reported that the bank had declined to place an order, without giving a reason for its change of heartABNC, folder 552, Banco de Aguascalientes (1910-1932). In fact the bank will have been concerned about the speed of delivery, and probably price, and had decided against issuing a 50c note, as it had already agreed a contract[text needed] with the American Book and Printing Company to produce $1 notes. This also faltered as on 28 April the bank agreed that, as the printers had closed their workshops, the contract was void and, because of the circumstances in which the bank found itself, decided not to pursue the ideaAGN, SC224 Antiguos Bancos de Emisión, caja 102, libro 283 Minutes of board meeting, 28 April 1914. No proofs or examples of this $1 note are known.