1822 voluntary loans and donations
On 16 April 1822 the Regency authorized, through the Provincial and City Councils, a system to accept, throughout the Empire, voluntary donations and loans to help pay for the needs of the Army and other emergencies of the State. The Intendants would distribute in the Provincial and City Councils, notes (billetes ó cédulas) signed by their hand, and for various values, the smallest being for ten pesos and the largest for two hundred pesosGazeta del Gobierno Imperial de México, Tomo II, Núm. 29, 27 April 1822.
There are several mention of these billetes and cédulas in the Jalisco archives. The first is on 13 May 1822 when Juan José de Arespacochaga and Victoriano Mateos, Alcalde and Secretario of Guadalajara, acknowledged receipt of the cédulas and sent a list of contributorsAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 16. Other places acknowledged receipt of examples of the billetes and cédulas: LagosAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 12, EtzatlánAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 13 and TepatitlánAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 13 on 15 July, SayulaAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 20 on 17 July, TalaAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 11 on 18 July, SentispacAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 10 on 27 July, Hostotipaquillo on 1 AugustAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 9, and Colotlán on 17 AugustAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 2
On 20 July Zapopan responded with a list of contributorsAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 8: on 23 July the ayuntamientos of Ahuacatlán and Santa María del Oro acknowledged receipt and sent a list of the contributors from Santa María del OroAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 7 and on 29 July Pablo Gutiérrez, of the ayuntamiento of Real de San Sebastián acknowledged receipt of thirty copies of the manifesto, fourteen cédulas for the voluntary loan and the same number of billetes for donationsAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 6.
On 16 August the City Council of Tonalá requested billetes and cédulasAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 4. On 21 August the Intendant Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa, of Guadalajara, informed the Provincial Council that Autlán and Tuxcacuesco had acknowledged receipt of their cédulas and billetesAJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 24 and ten days later he forwarded to the Provincial Council an official letter from the City Council of Cuescomatitlán, telling them that "because of the poverty of the neighbourhood it cannot contribute what has been allocated to it by reason of voluntary donations." He also included a response from the City Councils of Cajititlán, Santa Anita and the one in the capital of Tlajomulco, as well as a list of individuals who have made a loan and voluntary donation from Santa Anita and the [City Council of Tlajomulco]AJ, Hacienda, 1822, caja 11, exp. 18.
On 17 October the Diputación Provincial informed the ayuntamiento of Guadalajara that it has sent quantities of billetes and cédulas to Tepic, Compostela and Acaponeta and on 12 September had made a second issue of billetes and cédulas to Tomatlán, but had not yet received any acknowledgementAJ, Gobernación, 1822, caja 11, exp. 3.
On 9 January 1823 the Provincial Council recorded the five lists of donations and voluntary loan collected in the District of ZapopanAJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 23.
On 23 January the Mayor of Santa María del Oro sent a letter relating to the collection of voluntary donation and patriotic loanAJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 31. On 29 January the City Council of Sayula explained that since 13 August it had been told that it would be sent more billetes for voluntary donations and loan certificates of the lowest valueAJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 29.
On 23 February the Mayor of Cuyutlán sent a donation of 15 pesosAJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 28.
On 14 March the City Council of Ahuacatlán requested news of the collection of donations and loans. The Governor sent the respective account and list of the contributing individuals. 855 pesos, by superior order of the Intendant of the Province, Antonio Gutiérrez de Ulloa, had been handed over to the Captain of the 11th Regiment of Cazadores, Ignacio Farías Guzmán, on 6 December 1822AJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 26.
On 20 March the City Council of Hostotipaquillo informed Governor Luis Quintanar, that the Provincial Council had sent them sixteen billetes and cédulas of the following numbers and values: twelve number 1 with a value of ten pesos: twelve no. 2 for fifteen pesos; and eight number 3 for twenty pesos. Only a single billete for fifteen pesos has been issued to the Presbitero Anastasio Barrionuevo. The others were still in the possession of the Sub Receptor de AlcabalasAJ, Hacienda, 1823, caja 2, exp. 24.
As these were receipts for a donation or loan that was not, at the time, expected to be repaid, they were not negotiable and as such, not paper money. Moreover, if they were anything like the San Luis Potosí certificates, they would not have had any "security features".