ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the substance of the decree, and examines the circumstances of its adoption and the role played by the Bank of Spain and the provincial banks themselves in the drafting process, and deals with an analysis of the various choices made by the banks that were stripped of their power to issue. The plurality of banknote issue effective in Spain since 1844 was brought to an end in 1874, when it was replaced by a single issuer system. The decree of 19 March 1874 on unified fiduciary circulation was issued by the finance ministry under the leadership of Jose Echegaray and ratified by the head of the provisional government, General Francisco Serrano. The undeniably liberal leanings of Echegaray gave credence to his claim that unavoidable factors of an extraordinary nature compelled him to decree the unified circulation of banknotes only five years after he had argued for the free establishment of banks of issue.
