Mining companies

Matehuala

Negociación Minera Santa Maria de la Paz y Anexas

La Paz is in the Sierra del Fraile, 187 kilometres north of the city of San Luis Potosí. The mines had been worked by the same company since exploitation began in 1864.

In June 1913, seeing that there was no currency in circulation, this company, the Negociación Minera Santa Maria de la Paz y Anexas, with the consent of the Huertista government, issued 30,000 pesos in vouchers. The company took several months to arrange for a professional issue to be printed in the Unites States, so did it have a "provisional issue" in the meantime?

Some notes have an extra signature of José Granadez (with rubberstamp ‘Cajero’)

These notes were printed by Maverick-Clarke, printers in San Antonio, Texas, who produced the first dos caritas for Francisco Villa. They are dated 1 May 1914, payable at Matehuala, and signed by M. D. Stackpole and Richard Gallegos (as cajero). Occasionally there is a third signature.

Manill D. Stackpole
Richard Gallegos
José Granad[   ][identification needed]

When the new revolutionary interim governor and Comandante Militar, Eulalio Gutiérrez, took over in July 1914, he demanded their immediate cancellation, threatening that the government would confiscate and work the mine directly if the paper currency bearing his signature, which he intended to issue but was not yet in circulation, was not used exclusively^{PRO, Record of the British Foreign Office, F0371, v2406, f23935, p23835 Sanford to the Foreign Office, 6 February 1915; ibid., p 43256 Spring Rice to the Foreign Office, 16 November 1915; ibid., v2407, n45167, 45167: Salinas of Mexico Ltd. to the Foreign Office, 16 March 1915}. This might be a reference to the Brigada Alvarez notes, from nearby Matehuala, issued by Herminio Alvarez, after he became governor in October 1914.

On 14 April 1915 the Villista General Tomás Urbina, from his headquarters in Auza, San Luis Potosí, declared that the issue of notes or tickets (bonos o boletas) by foreign residents was strictly prohibited and required such foreigners to pay their workers in Mexican silver coin or American gold^{SD papers, 812.63/100}. In fact this decree related mainly to American mining operations in Durango: Urbina, by virtue of being military commander of the State of Durango, had the power to issue such an order^{El Paso Morning Times, 5 May 1915}.

Among the archives that were thrown into landfill by the new owners of the American Bank Note Company was correspondence from 1920-1921 on notes for the Negociación Minera de la Paz y Anexas in Matehula^{ABNC, 40332.00}. This might have been for a proposed (and possibly effected) issue of low value notes, to address the same shortage as the Comisión Monetaria notes in Mexico City.

Moctezuma

Minas “Guadalupana”

These notes for 50c in infalsificables were good for a couple of months, up to 31 July 1916.