The 5% Amortizable Domestic Debt of the United Mexican States is one of the major public debt issues of late 19th-century Mexico. This bond of $500 Pesos Fuertes, Letter I, N°124888, was issued in Mexico City on 1 April 1898, engraved by the London firm Waterlow & Sons, one of the world's most prestigious securities and banknote printing companies, a direct competitor of Bradbury Wilkinson. The Porfiriato (1876–1911) was a period of financial stabilization and modernization for Mexico: under Finance Minister José Yves Limantour, the government succeeded in balancing the budget, attracting foreign capital and bringing Mexico into the circle of financially solvent states. The issuance of this 5% amortizable domestic debt fits within this policy of financial consolidation. The high quality of the Waterlow engraving, the firm also printed banknotes for many states, makes this a document that is both beautiful and historically significant.