Mexico P-S1124a—Mérida, Yucatán—Comisión Reguladora del Mercado de Henequén 20 pesos 1914 UNC but with pinhole

At the moment only Series C is left for sale.

Type P-S1124a = red seal on reverse but no other overprint ("ORO", commission name, place, date)

Condition: as uncirculated but with one pinhole.

Banknote Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • P-S1124a — Red seal on reverse only; no overprint (this note)
  • P-S1124b — Overprinted "Oro" + "Resellado por la Comisión Reguladora del Mercado de Henequen" + date on reverse
  • P-S1142c — Overprinted "Resellado por la Comisión Reguladora del Mercado de Henequen" + date (25 April 1915) on reverse
• Color: Obverse: black and red on cream; Reverse: blue on cream
• Front: Palacio de Gobierno in Mérida at left center; illustration of henequen (Agave fourcroydes) processing at right center; denomination "XX" in red across center background; "VEINTE PESOS" in white on red band at bottom; Series C; printed by Talleres de Fot. y Fotograbado "Guerra", Mérida
• Back: Iglesia (Church) of the Las Monjas complex at Chichén Itzá at center in circular frame; "VEINTE PESOS" in white on blue repeated six times around edges; red oval seal of the Comisión Reguladora at center right
• Watermark: None
• Composition: Paper
• Issuing entity: Comisión Reguladora del Mercado de Henequen, Mérida, Yucatán
• Printer: Talleres de Fot. y Fotograbado "Guerra", Mérida
• Demonetized: Demonetized — emergency issue of the Mexican Revolution; no longer valid
• Signatures: Signed on behalf of the Tesorería General del Estado de Yucatán
• Currency: Mexican peso (1863–1992)

About Yucatán / Mexico

• Issuing state: State of Yucatán, southeastern Mexico; capital Mérida
• Capital (national): Mexico City (city pop. ~9.2 million; metro pop. ~21.7 million)
• Population (Mexico): ~130 million (UN 2024) — similar to Russia; between Germany and Japan
• Area (Mexico): 1,964,375 km² (~758,449 mi²) — similar to Alaska and Texas combined; between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia
• GDP per capita at PPP: ~$23,000 USD (IMF 2024) — ranks ~77th out of 193 globally
• Main exports: Manufactured goods, vehicles, electronics, oil, agricultural products
• Sovereignty:
  • New Spain (colonial, 1521–1821)
  • First Mexican Empire (1821–1823)
  • Republic of Mexico (1824–date, with interruptions)
  • Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) — this note issued during this period

Yucatán Unfiltered

• In 1914, henequen — the agave fiber used to make rope and twine — was so economically dominant in Yucatán that the state issued its own currency backed by it. The Comisión Reguladora del Mercado de Henequen controlled the entire supply chain and effectively ran the state’s finances during the Revolution.
• Yucatán was so isolated from central Mexico during the Revolution that it operated almost as an independent entity — printing its own money, controlling its own ports, and negotiating directly with US buyers for henequen fiber used in American grain harvesting machinery.
• The Iglesia at Chichén Itzá on the reverse was built by the Spanish on top of earlier Maya structures — a colonial church grafted onto a pre-Columbian ceremonial complex. It appears on a revolutionary banknote issued 400 years later.
• The Numista rarity index for this note is 100 — the maximum possible score, indicating extreme scarcity among collectors worldwide.

A Currency Backed by Rope Fiber, Issued During a Revolution

In November 1914, with Mexico in the middle of its revolution and central authority collapsed, the state of Yucatán issued its own money — backed not by gold or silver but by henequen, the agave plant whose fiber made the rope that tied the grain sheaves of North America. The Comisión Reguladora controlled the crop, the market, and now the currency. This note is a document of that moment: a state acting alone, printing its own promises, illustrated with a colonial palace and a Maya ruin.

Chichén Itzá on the Back of a Revolutionary Banknote

The circular vignette on the reverse shows the Iglesia of Las Monjas at Chichén Itzá — a Spanish colonial church built directly onto Maya foundations. The choice of image is not accidental. Yucatán’s identity in 1914 was layered: Maya, colonial, and now revolutionary. The note carries all three.

Own One of the Rarest Mexican Revolutionary Banknotes in Existence

With a Numista rarity index of 100 — the maximum — this P-S1124a is among the scarcest documented Mexican banknotes. Series C, dated 20 November 1914, red seal only, no overprint. One pinhole. Otherwise as uncirculated.

A note that financed a revolution with agave fiber and printed a Maya ruin on the back.