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Mount of piety

Pedro Romero de Terreros founded Monte de Piedad in 1775 by order of King Carlos III of Spain. The first pawn was a set of diamonds by Francisco Carabantes.

On some occasion, a very heavy chair was auctioned off and whoever bought it returned days later to look for the twin of the piece of furniture. As he explained, what interested him was not having the couple itself, but that, at the bottom of the chair he had bought, he found the reason why it weighed so much: it was full of centenarians!

The National Monte de Piedad, also called montepío in the singular, were charitable entities, where the poor could obtain cash sums by pawning their belongings and thus satisfy their most basic needs. It is because of this that they called it the bank of the poor.

Today it is not just for the poor. There are institutions where they only accept jewelry and others where you can pawn anything of value, as was the case of Gabriel García Márquez who, while writing 100 Years of Solitude, pawned his mixer and the heater in his study in order to be able to send his manuscript .

Monte de Piedad

The operation of a National Monte de Piedad is quite simple: it offers a credit in exchange for gold, silver, platinum jewelry or diamond pieces. No endorsements, solvency studies or additional guarantees.

The entire process, from the time the jewel is taken to the Monte de Piedad until the credit is accessed, is resolved in a matter of minutes. Not only that, but the National Monte de Piedad only gets rid of the pledge when the client does not pay. This is unlike the pawn shop, whose essential business is to market it.

Those who are financed through the Monte de Piedad not only benefit by being able to solve some immediate problem, but also benefit those who have the least, since the profits, some 400 million pesos per year, are redirected to 611 social assistance institutions.

We will introduce you to some of the most pawned items in Mexico so you can get an idea of ​​what items you can use for your first personal loans through self-financing.

Nacional Monte de Piedad is a non-profit private assistance institution that aims to help those in need through pledge loans, financial services and social investment. They work hand in hand with civil society organizations, cooperation agencies, the media, academies and companies in order to establish alliances that contribute to the social transformation of Mexico.

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