Bradbury Wilkinson notes used during the Revolution

The Bradbury Wilkinson notes were ordered before the Ley General of 1897 prohibited the use of notes smaller than five pesos, so the two small denomination (50c and $1) were not put into circulation. They were used a decade and a half later when Huerta first modified the Ley General and then permitted the issue of 50c notes. At first sight it seems unlikely that the bank kept a stock of notes for over a quarter of a century and the quality of the paper and the red and green underprint suggests that the American Book & Printing Company used the old Bradbury, Wilkinson plates. However, the type used for the numbers and the fact that the reverses were printed in two tones favours the first proposition.

However, the bank also contacted Bradbury, Wilkinson 1914. By this time the company was a subsidiary of the American Bank Note Company and H. Leslie Hendriks, who had formerly been the ABNC’s Resident Agent in Mexico City, was working for Bradbury, Wilkinson in London. On 26 January Hendriks told the ABNC that he had received a telegram from the Banco de Jalisco, asking for a price for 200,000 $1 notes in the old design. Hendriks was going to quote the original price (£2 17s), with payment having to be made in advance, but wanted the ABNC’s comment. The ABNC’s vice-president, D. H. Woodhull, replied that they had no objection, seeing that Bradbury Wilkinson already had the plates, but strongly advised securing payment in advance, as financial conditions in Mexico were none too good. Hendriks therefore, on 27 January, quoted the bank “Price five hundred eighty pounds in advance f.o.b. Liverpool three months”^{ABNC, folder 259, Banco de Jalisco (1907-1932)}.

By March 1914 the bank was back in communication with the American Bank Note Company.

The $1 notes are dated 20 January 1914 and were put into circulation in the following week^{The Mexican Herald, 28 January 1914}. The 50c notes are dated 1 May 1914.

Presidente

Aurelio González Hermosillo
Eugène (Eugenio) Cuzin came from France in 1890 and became one of the most important businessmen and retailers in Guadalajara. He appears as Presidente of the Banco de Aguascalientes in 1912.

Interventor

J. Prieto Rivas

Gerente

H. W. Bartníng

Cajero

Issues

50c notes

$1 notes

The Banco de Jalisco suspended its operations in Guadalajara at the begining of June. According to a newspaper report it was at first believed that this was due to financial difficulties, but the manager explained that the bank had been closed by order of the government because it had failed to deliver $600,000 in connection with the internal loan that Huerta floated several months before^{El Paso Herald, 7 July 1914}. So these will have had a short period for issue.