Manuel Diéguez
On 12 June 1914 Manuel Diéguez, a general in Obregón’s Cuerpo de Ejército del Noroeste, was appointed governor of Jalisco, his native state.
His first two decrees were issued from San Marcos, before Obregón captured the state capital, Guadalajara, on 8 July 1914. Decree núm. 1, on 18 June, made only the Constitutionalist issues of Carranza, Obregón and any issue that Diéguez as state governor was going to make of obligatory acceptance throughout the state. Because of the complete lack of small change, decree núm. 2, on the same date, authorized an issue of $100,000, composed of
| total number |
total value |
|
| 5c | 300,000 | $ 15,000 |
| 10c | 100,000 | 10,000 |
| 20c | 75,000 | 15,000 |
| 50c | 120,000 | 60,000 |
| $100,000 |
These were to be for local use, and would be exchangeable in the Tesorería del Estado for Constitutionalist notes.
San Marcos issue
| series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 50c | includes numbers 21017CNBanxico #4599 to 37375CNBanxico #11370 |
Diéguez immediately produced some provisional notes whilst still at San Marcos, for simple 50 centavos notes are known. These refer to decree núm. 2 as “today” and have the printed names of Diéguez as governor, Manuel Aguirre Berlanga as secretary, and the hand signature of Helio Garza(?) as interim treasurer.
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He remained loyal to Carranza, fighting the Villistas in both Jalisco and, later, other states. In 1923 and 1924 he supported Adolfo de la Huerta’s revolution, fighting in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas, until captured and executed in Tuxtla Gutiérrez on 20 April 1924. |
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He was Secretario General of Jalisco in 1914, governor of Jalisco from April 1915 to April 1916, Carranza’s Subsecretario de Gobernación from 1916 to 1917 and Secretario de Gobernación from 1917 to 1920. He remained loyal to Carranza and retired from public life after Carranza’s murder. He died on 4 October 1953. |
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| Helio |
Manuel Macario Diéguez Lara was born in Jalisco on 10 March 1874 but by 1906, at the age of 32, he was working as an overseer for the Cananea Consolidated Copper Company mine in Cananea, Sonora. He was one of the leaders of the famous strike there and was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years in the infamous prison of San Juan de Ulúa. When Madero became president Diéguez was released and returned to Cananea where he became presidente municipal. After the decena trágica he joined Obregón’s Cuerpo de Ejército del Noroeste and rose to be a general. On 12 June 1914 he was appointed governor of his native state.
Manuel Aguirre Berlanga was born on 28 January 1887 in San Antonio de las Alazanas, Coahuila. After studying law he was a practising lawyer and university professor. He served as mayor of Piedras Negras, Coahuila and held posts in the Coahuila state government in 1911 to 1912 and as a local deputy in 1913.
These notes found little favour with the public and by late September 1914 the government in Guadalajara was arranging their withdrawal, alongside Obregon’s issue from TepicMéxico Libre, Año I, Tomo I, Núm. 31, 11 September 1914. The exchange took placed in the Jefatura de Hacienda, situated next to the jardín de la Soledad.
First Dirección General de Rentas issue
However, Diéguez later arranged for more professional notes to be printed in Guadalajara, as authorised by his decree núm. 2. This issue consisted of cartones of 5c, 10c and 20c and notes for 50cBoletín Militar, Tomo I, Núm. 15, 1 August 1914. The article also mentions a $1 note. The 20c notes entered circulation on 6 AugustMéxico Libre, Núm. 2, 6 August 1914, and the 5c and 10c were expected shortlyMéxico Libre, Núm. 2, 6 August 1914; El Reformador, 7 August 1914. The 10c cartón was later counterfeited (see below).
| from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 5c | 00001 | includes numbers 00813CNBanxico #11345 to 79243CNBanxico #4506 | |||
| 10c | includes numbers 01538CNBanxico #4510 to 42221CNBanxico #4508 | ||||
| 20c | includes numbers 4342CNBanxico #4513 to 47639CNBanxico #4512 |
According to the printer, José María Iguíniz, he did not have enough pasteboard for the cartones, so the remainder were printed as notes, probably by the Ancira printing house. These larger notes, Series A 5c, 10c and 20c and Series B 50c, carried the printed signatures of Diéguez as governor, Manuel Aguirre Berlanga as secretary, and Gustavo J. Jiménez as Director General de Rentas.
| Manuel Diéguez | |
| Manuel Aguirre Berlanga | |
| Gustavo J. Jiménez |
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 19 July 1914 | 5c | A | includes numbers 73475CNBanxico #4514 to 289261CNBanxico #4515 | ||||
| 10c | A | includes numbers 33968 to 60456CNBanxico #4516 | |||||
| 20c | A | includes numbers 12906CNBanxico #11350 to 63826 | |||||
| 50c | B | includes numbers 50181 to 90595CNBanxico #4531 |
Second Dirección General de Rentas issue
On 11 August, by decree núm 12, Diéguez authorized a further issue of $100,000.
| total number |
total value |
|
| 5c | 100,000 | $ 5,000 |
| 10c | 100,000 | 10,000 |
| 20c | 75,000 | 15,000 |
| 50c | 140,000 | 70,000 |
| $100,000 |
These were supposedly guaranteed by a deposit of Constitutionalist notes in the Dirección General de Rentas and could be exchanged for such Constitutionalist issues, including those issued by the governments of the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 15 August 1914 | 5c | B | 1 | 99999 | 100,000 | 5,000 | includes numbers 45617CNBanxico #4518 to 63841 |
| 10c | B | 1 | 99999 | 100,000 |
10,000 |
includes numbers 04427 to 73893CNBanxico #4524 | |
| 20c | B | 1 | 75000 | 75,000 |
15,000 |
includes number 20046CNBanxico #11357 to 68252CNBanxico #4528 | |
| 50c | C | 140,000 |
70.000 |
includes numbers 8849CNBanxico #4537 to 80675CNBanxico #11359 |
The 50c note was modeled on the Chihuahua 50c note which had been printed in May 1914 by the Maverick-Clarke company of San Antonio, Texas for Francisco Villa’s state government. By August relations between Carranza and Villa were becoming strained, so it is perhaps surprising that they chose this image (and struck with it in subsequent issues). These notes were produced by the well-established local printing house Litografía y Encuadernación de J. M. Yguiniz.
Although the Director de Rentas, Gustavo G. Jiménez, told a newspaper that he expected the new notes to be put into circulation on 24 AugustMéxico Libre, Núm. 8, 19 August 1914 the new 10c notes in fact were put into circulation on 10 SeptemberEl Reformador, Tomo I, Núm. 34, 9 September 1914: México Libre, Núm. 29, 9 September 1914 and the 5c a few days later on 14 SeptemberMéxico Libre, Núm. 35, 15 September 1914. 0n 21 September the Dirección de Rentas received from the printers $20,000 in 50c notes. $50,000 of the $100,000 still needed to be put into circulationEl Reformador, Núm. 44, 22 September 1914. The $20,000 were put into circulation, through exchange, on 22 SeptemberEl Reformador, Núm. 45, 23 September 1914.
Third Dirección General de Rentas issue
On 24 October, by decree núm. 43, Diéguez authorized a third issue of $100,000El Reformador, Tomo I, Núm. 69, 21 October 1914: El Reformador, Tomo I, Núm. 71, 23 October 1914: México Libre, Núm. 73, 23 October 1914, again comprising
| total number |
total value |
|
| 5c | 100,000 | $ 5,000 |
| 10c | 100,000 | 10,000 |
| 20c | 75,000 | 15,000 |
| 50c | 140,000 | 70,000 |
| $100,000 |
.
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 30 October 1914 | 5c | C | 100,000 | 5,000 | includes numbers 7406CNBanxico #11361 to 27251CNBanxico #4523 | ||
| 10c | C | 100,000 | 10,000 | includes numbers 3663CNBanxico #4525 to 49739 | |||
| 20c | C | 1 | 75000 | 75,000 | 15,000 | includes numbers 34050CNBanxico #11363 to 72577CNBanxico #4529 | |
| 50c | D | 140,000 | 70,000 | includes numbers 81787CNBanxico #4536 to 126767CNBanxico #11364 |
Diéguez was not popular with either the upper or the lower classes of society and many of the revolutionaries from Jalisco, headed by Julián C. Medina, joined Villa. On 12 December Diéguez was forced to move his capital to Ciudad Guzmán and two days later was driven out of Guadalajara. Villa made a triumphant entry, and Medina became governor. On 18 January 1915 Diéguez recaptured Guadalajara from the troops that Villa left behind: then Villa defeated Diéguez and on 13 February reoccupied the city, being received even more enthusiastically than on the previous occasion. Diéguez then retook the city on 18 April 1915.
During these changes in fortune both sides made pronouncements about the paper money in issue, and there are a series of overprints known on the other issues as one side or the other revalidated notes. However, Diéguez’ own issues escaped the need for revalidation, possibly because their quality made them less susceptible to counterfeiting. Thus, on 11 January 1915 Medina told people to present the money issued by Conventionist jefes who had operated in the state at the Dirección General de Rentas before 31 January to check its validity as after that date it would be considered worthlessEl Estado de Jalisco, Tomo LXXX, Núm 14, 12 January 1915. Then on 19 January the newly-arrived Diéguez published Carranza’s decree of 27 November disowning Chihuahua and Convention issues. On the next day, he issued another series of notes ($1, $5 and $10), but in his capacity as General en Jefe de la División de Occidente, rather than as governor.
División de Occidente issue
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 20 January 1915 | $1 | A | 1 | 499999 | 500,000 | 500,000 | includes numbers 4071 to 499888 |
| $5 | A | 1 | 199999 | 200,000 | 1,000,000 | includes numbers 1670 to 199559 | |
| $10 | A | 1 | 49999 | 50,000 | 500,000 | includes numbers 318 to 49016CNBanxico #11326 | |
| $2,000,000 |
These were also printed by Iguíniz, and had a portrait of General Ramón Corona MadrigalRamón Corona was born in Tuxcueca, Jalisco in 1837. He worked in business at an early age, but when the War of Reform began, he joined the Liberals as a lieutenant and after a number of battles, he became Brigadier General at the age of 28. He fought against the French with incredible valour, ability and cleverness, and was undefeated. While most of the states of the Republic were occupied by the French, the State of Sinaloa, defended by General Ramón Corona, was never conquered. Maximilian surrendered to General Corona at the Cerro de las Campanas. When the war against the French ended, and when Lerdo de Tejada was president, Placido Vega and Manuel Lozada organized an army of 15,000 men to take control of the country, and Corona, with only 1,500 men, defeated their army. A short time later, he was appointed Foreign Minister of Mexico to Spain and Portugal. After twelve years of absence from his fatherland, he returned and was elected governor of Jalisco where he served from1 March 1887, until the day of his death, 11 November 1889. He was murdered by a madman named Primitivo Ron, a 22 year old student who afterwards committed suicide., a native of Jalisco who fought the French and accepted the surrender of the Emperor Maximilian, and a view of the Palacio de Gobierno in Guadalajara on the front. They bear more than a passing resemblance to Obregón’s Pagaduría del Cuerpo del Noroeste issue, also from Guadalajara. As well as Diéguez’ signature, they had the signatures of Coronel Amado Aguirre as Chief of General Staff and A. Ruiz as Jefe de Hacienda. The text stated that the Tesorería de la Nación would redeem these in notes of Carranza’s 19 September issue.
| Manuel Diéguez | |
| Amado Aguirre | |
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Adolfo Ruiz Ruiz came from Sonora to take up the post of Jefe de Hacienda in late August 1914El Reformador, Tomo I, Núm. 18, 21 August 1914. |
Later, in January 1916, Dieguez wrote to Obregón (and hence Carranza) explaining that in November 1914, when he was lacking communication with Obregón headquarters and the Primera Jefatura, he had reorganised his five battalions and five regiments into the División de Occidente and also issued $2,000,000 in paper currency. He asked for retroactive authorisation for his actions, and Carranza replied on 31 January, stating that he had also ordered the Secretaría de Hacienda to change the notes in due course for Gobierno Provisional notesEl Pueblo, Año III, Tomo I, Núm. 468, 2 February 1916.
Diéguez also felt the need for higher value notes as he used some Gobierno Provisional de México 50 pesos notes without signatures but with an overstamp dated 28 January 1915 with Diéguez’ signature that stated that they were of obligatory acceptance.
| from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| $50 | includes number 151466CNBanxico #11329 to 156157 |
Some of these (such as the example above) were later revalidated by the Jefatura de Hacienda.
These were still being used in April 1916 when the Jefatura de Hacienda in Guadalajara announced that they would continue exchanging them.
Fourth Dirección General de Rentas issue
On 4 February, by decree núm. 59, Diéguez authorized a fourth issue of fractional notes - $100,000 comprising of
| total number |
total value |
|
| 5c | 100,000 | $ 5,000 |
| 10c | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 20c | 50,000 | 10,000 |
| 50c | 160,000 | 80,000 |
| $100,000 |
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 1 February 1915 | 50c | E | 1 | 160000 | 160,000 | 80,000 | includes numbers 39439 to 159176CNBanxico #4534 |
These would be changed, when opportunity offered, for Carranza’s Gobierno Provisional de México notes. However a later decree (núm. 65, see below) referred to 50c notes authorized by a decree of 1 February and this is the date on the only known value. On 6 April 1915, the Villista Medina, in an official clarification, stated that the notes that were of forced circulation in the state were the two Chihuahua issues, the Constitutionalist cartones and the 5c, 10c and 20c notes of the first, second and third issues of the Dirección General de RentasEl Estado de Jalisco, Tomo LXXX, Núm. 42, 8 April 1915; La República, Núm. 59, 9 April 1915. So he was, of necessity, allowing the smaller values but did not acknowledge any 50c notes or Diéguez’ fourth issue.
Berlanga's decree
Finally, on 29 May, in decree núm. 65, Manuel Aguirre Berlanga, now interim governor, authorized a fifth issue:
| total number |
total value |
|
| 5c | 200,000 | $10,000 |
| 10c | 100,000 | 10,000 |
| 20c | 100,000 | 20,000 |
| 50c | 140,000 | 50,000 |
| $90,000 |
and also increased by another $10,000 the 50c notes of the 1 February decree.
| number | value | |
| 50c | 20,000 | $10,000 |
| $10,000 |
Some 5c notes refer to 'Decreto No 64' instead of the correct 'Decreto No 65'.
| date on note | Series | from | to | total number |
total value |
||
| 1 February 1915 | 50c | E | 160001 | 180000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | includes number 166291CNBanxico #11365 |
| 8 June 1915 | 5c | F | 200,000 | 10,000 | 'Decreto No 64' includes numbers 12421CNBanxico #4522 and 261350CNBanxico #4521 |
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| 'Decreto No 65' includes number 115793CNBanxico #4520 and 263977CNBanxico #4519 |
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| 20c | F | 1 | 99999 | 100,000 | 20,000 | includes numbers 9559 to 91425CNBanxico #4526 | |
| 50c | F | 140,000 | 50,000 | includes numbers 32552 to 79832CNBanxico #4532 |
Counterfeits
On 4 September 1915 the Director General de Rentas, E, B. Calderón, published a warning that counterfeit 10c cartones had been found. Examples of counterfeit and legitimate notes were on display in the department stores “La Ciudad de México” and “La Fama Italiana” so that people could know the differencesBoletín Militar, Tomo III, Núm. 260, 5 September 1915.
Use in other states
Guanajuato
On 12 February 1916 Salvatierra in Guanajuato was told that Díeguez notes were of forced circulationASalvatierra, caja 1915 telegram José Siurob, Guanajuato, to Héctor E. Huacuja, Presidente Municipal, Salvatierra12 February 1916.
Sinaloa
In August 1915 Coronel José J. Obregón in Mazatlán, declared that the latest issue of notes from Jalisco were of forced circulation in SinaloaBoletín Militar, Tomo III, Núm. 235, 7 August 1915.
Zacatecas
On 27 August 1915 the Jefe Pólitico in Zacatecas, L. T. Villaseñor advised that the notes issued by the Pagaduría General del Ejército del Noroeste, as well as those issued by General M. M. Diéguez in Guadalajara and by the Zacatecas Cámara de Comercio were of forced circulation.
Withdrawal
On 11 May 1915 Carranza’s Secretaría de Hacienda, in a list of notes, included in those that were of legal tender, the ones issued by General Diéguez, as governor of Jalisco, in accordance with the Secretaría’s authorization of 27 March 1915.
On 28 June Carranza, in his circular núm. 28, stating that the need for the fractional notes (10c, 20c and 50c) of the Cuerpo de Ejército del Noreste had passed, ordered that they be exchanged in the Tesorería General de la Nación for other Constitutionalist notes. This circular was reprinted in the Boletin Militar of 25 September.
On 18 September the Secretaría announced that until it had sufficient funds to exchange the notes issued by Obregón and Diéguez Carranza had decreed that these would continue to be of forced circulation. Two days later the Jefe de Hacienda in Guadalajara, G. Vargas, stated that the notes still remained of legal, forced circulation, until they were exchanged in his JefaturaBoletín Militar, Tomo III, Núm. 277, 26 September 1915. In this respect these notes were in a better position than others that had to be deposited in the Jefaturas in exchange for receipts, to be redeemed at a later date. They appear to have remained a dominant issue in the west of the country for a few more months.
On 3 February 1916 it was reported that Carranza had ordered his Secretaría de Hacienda to change the $2 million in Diéguez notes for Gobierno Provisional notes when the opportunity arose Boletín Militar, Tomo V, Núm. 387, 3 February 1916.
On 28 April 1916, as part of the move to introduce a unified currency, Carranza listed various issues, including the 20 January 1915 issue, that would be accepted until 30 June on deposit by the Tesorería General de la Nación, Jefaturas de Hacienda and Administraciones Principales del Timbre. After that date they would be null and void. All other notes were declared null and void. An American stationed in Guadalajara recorded the effect of this decree on the Diéguez issue: “One of the effects of this edict was to throw out of circulation at once all the Obregon and Dieguez money which, on account of one of the many former financial edicts requiring all other kinds of revolutionary money except the Obregon-Dieguez issues to “resellado” (restamped), had become the favorite money here. This favoritism for the Obregon and Dieguez money was heightened from the fact that such a large percentage of the money which had to be “resellado” was being declared “falso” (counterfeit) by the government agents. Therefore, when the Obregon and Dieguez money was suddenly thrown out of circulation by said edict, many, and especially the market people and wage earners, were caught with hardly any other kind of money in their possession. Moreover, nearly all the subsidiary bills used here for small change were of these issues. Hence thousands of people awoke on Wednesday morning, the 3rd of May, and found themselves unable to purchase in the markets of the city as much as a day’s rations. And there was not offered any relief ahead than the promise by the government that after the 30th of June they might deposit with the government’s agents such money as was yet permitted to circulate and receive – something in the future – one infalsificable pesos for every two of the old"Will B. Davis, Experiences and Observations of an American Consular Officer during the recent Mexican Revolutions, 1920, p234.
On 24 July 1916 Carranza decreed that from 1 August they would exchange the notes listed in the decree of 28 April that had been deposited in the offices of Hacienda with infalsificables at a rate of 10 to 1.
