Issue date: 09 Nov, 2018
NUMISMATICS
For the fifth year in a row, we present a new philatelic issue celebrating Numismatics.
The subject is a 500-peseta note with the likeness of Rosalía de Castro, the only woman ever to appear on a banknote in pesetas. This banknote is from 1979 and was in circulation until 1987.
Throughout history, many women have been depicted on currency, although in the past most of them were royal.
But today, we find other female faces, not just queens and empresses. Coins and banknotes from different countries feature women who share an indomitable character, who fought for their rights, or whose talents were enough to set them apart in their own time.
Rosalía de Castro was one of these women. She was born in Santiago de Compostela on 24 February 1837. The illegitimate daughter of a priest, her work clearly reflects her difficult childhood.
Her early years with her father’s family, her life and relationship with her mother, can be seen for example in a slender volume of poems, A mi madre (To My Mother), which reveals her grief at her mother’s death and the loneliness she would always feel. Her first novel, La hija del mar (Daughter of the Sea) also pays tribute to her mother and the experience that marked her life as a single parent.
Her husband, Manuel Murguía, was also an important element in her life and work. Leaving aside the question of whether the marriage was a happy one, it was thanks to him that she became a published writer, although he was also responsible for the destruction of her copious correspondence, thus depriving us of a greater understanding of Rosalía and her work.
Like stamps, banknotes and coins can tell us stories. Holding them in our hands is an invitation to travel the world and explore the lives of illustrious figures, and they reveal a great deal about the countries that issue them. Once again Correos, as if by magic, combines Numismatics and Philately in a single issue.
Carmen Álvarez Casanova
Rate A - €0.75. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, up to 20 g.
Rate A2 - €0.85. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, between 20 g and 50 g.
Rate B - €1.65. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to Europe (including Greenland), up to 20 g.
Rate C - €1.75. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the rest of the world (except USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), up to 20 g.
Rate D - €2.10. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, up to 20 g.