Evidence of Covert Spanish Financial Support During the American Revolution

(Philadelphia, April 13 1783). Bifolium, 12 x 8 1/2 in. (304 x 216 mm). Three-page manuscript document in Spanish, titled "Nota de los certificados pagaderos por los Estados unidos de la America...", prepared by Miguel Lorenzo de Iznardy and sent to Francisco Rendon, being an inventory of funds which reference loans granted by the Spanish Empire, to the Revolutionary United States and the colony of South Carolina. Creasing from old folds, a few small separations along same; scattered foxing and stains.

Very rare manuscript document prepared for Spanish Emissary to the Continental Congress, Francisco Rendon (1760-1821), documenting Spain's covert financial support of the American Revolution, through loans advanced in the closing months of the war. Iznardy was an Andalusian merchant, and unofficial agent of Spain based in Philadelphia.

Listed within the inventory are 242 payment certificates issued by the United States or South Carolina governments, together with 3,000 pesos in Continental paper currency, in repayment of obligations. The entries list the face value of each group of certificates, accrued interest, their conversion into pesos (fuertes), while also comparing the values of South Carolina currency, pounds sterling, Continental currency, and Spanish silver pesos. In total, the recorded obligations amount to approximately 227,399 pesos (approximately $7 million in 2026 dollars).

From these payments, allocations were made to Juan Ignacio de Urriza (1730-92), Intendant of Havana, and one of the principal Spanish officials responsible for administering secret financial assistance to the American Revolution. Throughout the inventory, specific shares of the certificates are assigned to Urriza, Iznardy and Havana merchant Gaspar de la Guardia, which suggests a sophisticated financial arrangement involving Spanish officials and private merchants acting as intermediaries in financing the American cause. Rather than relying solely on direct state subsidies, Spanish officials and merchant networks advanced substantial loans to the American government, with repayment secured through negotiable certificates, as seen here.

The manuscript concludes with an endorsement written in Havana on July 6, 1783 by merchant Fernando Rodríguez Berenguer, noting that an additional 16,000 pesos remained in the hands of Charleston firm Hall & Company. The endorsement confirms that Iznardy retained possession of the certificates, was authorized to collect the funds, and distribute both principal and accrued interest upon payment.

An important piece of primary-source evidence for Spain's hidden contribution to American independence.