Could you just clarify what you mean by rating in that context? VA? I ask because the only way I understood that the 25V wired in series would equal the amps from the 50v wired in parallel would be for the 25V to start with double the VA, ie

50V-50V 500VA parallel would be: 50*1.4 = 70V@500+500 / 70 = 14.2A
25V-25V 500VA series would be: 25+25*1.4 = 70V@500 / 70 = 7.14A
so you would actually need 25V-25V 1000VA to get: 25+25*1.4 = 70V@1000/70 = 14.2A

There's clearly something fundamental I'm missing here.

I really appreciate both of your inputs, time and patience, just in case I didn't mention it already!