Withdrawals and incinerations

Like the other banks the Banco de Guanajuato withdrew the notes that had deteriorated and burnt them, after recording their denominations and serial numbers in a book kept for the purpose.

This register of incinerations became, for the press, ‘el famoso libro de incineraciones’ when ex-manager Bustamante was arrested. It should have recorded the act in 1911 when $100,000 were supposed to have been incinerated and those carried out in 1912, one of which achieved the sum of $120,000. After Bustamante left the new manager, noting the excessive quantity of $5 and $10 notes in the market, wanted to check the records but the register had disappeared.

The interventor should have kept his own book, with copies of the acts, but did not, instead accepting a bonus from Bustamante.

In his report to the district judge exjudge Orvañanos stated that, according to the copy sent to the Secretaría de Hacienda, the act of incineration for April 1912 was attended by directors Mariano B. Taboada and Rodrigo Castelazo and cajero Juan A. Septién, but these three stated that they had not been present and no act of incineration took place in April 1912. Ramón Alcázar, jr. stated that he had never attended an incineration. Septién also said that once he took the strongboxes containing $120,000 in notes, marked for destruction, to Bustamante’s office and they were returned two days later empty, without the usual incineration in the bank’s yard^{El Diario, Año VIII, Núm. 2140 15 February 1914}.

On 27 August 1917 in its circular num. 7 the Comisión Monetaria instructed the banks to destroy all of their notes that they had in their possession. In accordance with this the Banco de Guanajuato recorded the following acts^{AGN, SC244, Antiguos Bancos de Emisión, caja 17, libro 53 and libro 54}.

Unfortunately we do not yet have a list of incinerations comprehensive enough to determine how many notes escaped destruction.