Paper Money of Sonora

Huerta’s rule was never really effective in Sonora. From the middle of 1913 Obregón was master of all of the state, except Guaymas¹ where General Pedro Ojeda was besieged, with four thousand men of the División de Yaqui², fourteen pieces of artillery and four machine-guns.

During this siege Huerta’s central government was unpunctual in paying the salaries and expenses of the División del Yaqui whilst the military high command exhausted its credit with the banks and commercial houses, so finally the authorities, in accordance with an authorisation of 6 September 1913, ordered a series of notes.

Provisional La Jefatura de Hacienda issue

On 28 March 1914 the steamer ‘Bonita’, carrying 900,000 pesos with which to pay the Guaymas garrison was captured and sunk by the Constitutionalists outside the port³. Possibly as a result of this upset⁴, three days later the Jefatura de Hacienda issued an emergency series of notes (in values of ten centavos, fifty centavos and one peso) printed by C. D. Taylor e Hijo⁵ in Guaymas itself. These were to be to be paid with the scrip that the Tesorería de la Federación would shortly be putting into circulation (pagara en cheques de los que a cargo de la Tesorería de la Federación circularan proximamente). They were signed by C. Perez Ojeda as Jefe de Hacienda and Modesto Ortega as Contador and had a rubber stamp signature of Joaquin C. Telléz.

C. Perez Ojeda: Ojeda was Jefe de Hacienda in Chihuahua and when the city was under siege by revolutionaries in November 1913 signed an emergency issue (see Jefatura de Hacienda notes in The Paper Money of Chihuahua). In a case of 'out of the frying pan, into the fire', he went on to be Jefe de Hacienda in Sonora and so besieged again in Guaymas.

Modesto Ortega:

Joaquin C. Telléz: Telléz was General-in-Chief of the División del Bravo (Bravo is the Mexican name for the Rio Grande), stationed in northeastern Mexico, originally to attack Villa’s División del Norte in its rear as it progressed into central Mexico and, after the United States landing at Veracruz, to deter an invasion through Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros.  Cut off from Mexico City, this Federal unit was forced to issue its own paper money at Saltillo in January 1914, drawn on La Tesorería de la Federación.  Téllez was transferred to Guaymas in March 1914 and assumed duties as Provisional Governor of the State of Sonora and commander of the División del Yaqui.

This photograph is of the División del Yaqui, with the paymaster (pagador) marked with an 'X'.

Both 50c and $1 values appear in two types; with or without a large ‘A’ in the upper centre of the underprint. The two types also use different typefaces, most noticeable in the word ‘Pagará’. Recorded lowest and highest numbers are as follows:

Chisem⁶ states that known numbers suggest there were 100,000 of each value, a total of $160,000 pesos’ worth but he seems to have been unaware of the two types.

The ‘ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS - JEFATURA DE HACIENDA EN SONORA’ seal on the front of the 50c is known in two different sizes (37mm and 40mm) and in both blue and purple ink. As for the reverse, there are two different versions of the ‘DIVISION DEL YAQUI’ seal, one with a simple and the other with a serrated edge.

The $1 note is known with the validation 'JEFATURA DE HACIENDA, CONTADURIA'.

La Tesorería de la Federación issue

The definitive issue of the Tesorería de la Federación, printed by the ‘La Nacional’ press, owned by the firm of A. Díaz de Leon e hijo in Mazatlan, were dated 16 March but presumably issued later. They were also signed by Ojeda and Ortega. There were four denominations (10c, 50c, $1 and $2) and known numbers suggest the size of the issue as follows:

These notes also carry the rubber-stamped validating signature of Joaquin C. Telléz on the reverse. The 10c is usually without the signature and a 10c with signature is rare: the other denominations are not known except with the validation. The 10c is known on board or thin card (common) and also on paper (very rare).

These notes may also have spread to the federal-held sections of the Baja peninsula since in early June Telléz sent a copy of his decree enforcing them to the jefe político of the southern section of Baja California, the subprefectos políticos of San José del Cabo and El Triumfo, and the presidentes municipales of Todos Santos and Santiago. On 12 June the authorities in Guaymas told Mulegé, Baja California, that the notes were of compulsory circulation⁷. Most, however, were used in the besieged town and the Federal soldiers there were said to be demoralised because they received their pay in a scrip that was only good in Guaymas⁸.

On 17 July the División de Yaqui evacuated Guaymas. Five days later it disembarked at Manzanillo, Colima. Telléz was ordered to disband the division in compliance with the negotiations between Huerta and the Constitutionalists but instead he reembarked for Salinas Cruz and left his men there, heading himself for Central America.

These Federal soldiers will have taken their notes with them as it was the only currency that they had and it was not a foregone conclusion that the incoming government would disown it. Once they were demobilised they began to try and spend their notes.

On 5 August the Interim Presidente Municipal of Guaymas, Matías F. Alsúe, decreed that, to put an end to any doubt, he was confirming that Carranza's decree núm. 21 of 28 February 1914, that declared the Constitutionalist currency to be obligatory tender, remained in force⁹. By implication he was stating that the Federal currency, if not actually illegal, was at least not obligatory.

On 14 September a correspondent from Tehauntepec, Oaxaca, reported that the ex-federal soldiers there had brought large quantities of these notes with them¹⁰.

On 5 October 1914 the Tesorero Municipal of Morelia told the Presidente Municipal that some people were accepting the notes whilst the Administración del Timbre was refusing them. He asked for advice as he did not know of any official disposition and did not want to run the risk of losing money¹¹. After consultation, on 31 October 1914 the Prefecto of Morelia issued a circular (núm. 115) that the bonos issued by Huerta’s government were also of forced circulation. This was copied to the Tesorero Municipal on 10 November¹². On 13 November the Prefecto issued another circular (núm. 123) that the state government had stated that all notes that were of forced circulation would continue to be so until new orders. These circulars were sent to the surrounding districts¹³.

On 15 October 1914 it was reported that certain Constitutionalist paymasters of the Constitucionalist army, paid off some of the soldiers with Guaymas notes and would be punished for fraud¹⁴. This probably refers to Guadalajara where these notes threatened to cause serious damage to business and the general public. Some people claimed that the money would be exchanged by the Secretaría de Hacienda, and on 16 October certain paymasters in the Constitutionalist army paid their troops with it, though probably not because they considered it legitimate but because they were defrauding their own men. The Subsecretario de Hacienda, José J. Reynoso, had to warn soldiers to be on their guard as these vales were null and void¹⁵. On 23 October the new Secretario de Hacienda in Mexico City, in a circular giving the legal status of various currencies, proclaimed that ‘the paper money issued in Guaymas by the Federal troops during the Huerta regime lacked any value’.

The 50c is known with a poorly legible overprint ‘COMANDANCIA DE PO[LICIA  ]’.