ABSTRACT
Some years ago, thanks to a good friend and to a small measure of luck, I was able to take part in one of the few visits to that holiest of holies – the strong room of the Bank of Spain. It was an occasion that enabled me to satisfy one of the great curiosities for a historian of economics, especially when, as is my case, that historian has spent years wading through documents that allude to such places, but that one never gets to see.
