Catalog
0.50 Quetzal
| Issuer | Banco de Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989-1992 |
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| Value | 50 Centavos (0.50 GTQ) |
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| Obverse description | The right portion of the obverse carries an intaglio vignette of the stone monument of Tecún Umán, last ruler of the K'iche' Maya, set against a stepped pyramid, captioned 'TECUN UMAN HEROE NACIONAL' below. To the left, a polychrome vignette of a Resplendent Quetzal in flight occupies the upper field, with a small Maya figure at lower left; the denomination 'Q0.50' appears in bold letterpress at centre above three facsimile signatures for the Gerente, Presidente, and Contralor General de Cuentas. The bank title 'BANCO DE GUATEMALA / GUATEMALA CENTRO AMERICA' runs across the upper header panel, with the fractional numeral '1/2' repeated at the corners. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO DE GUATEMALA CINCUENTA CENTAVOS DE QUETZAL Q0.50 TEMPLO I, TIKAL |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Guatemala issued this half-quetzal denomination through a long-running series that stretched across a politically turbulent stretch of Guatemalan history — the late 1980s and early 1990s saw the country transitioning out of military rule, with civilian governments attempting to stabilize institutions including the central bank. The Canadian Bank Note Company had held Guatemalan printing contracts for decades by this point, a relationship typical of Latin American central banks that lacked domestic intaglio capacity.
P#72 is notably common in higher circulated grades, having passed through daily commerce extensively before the denomination lost practical purchasing power to inflation. Watermark-only security was already dated by the time this series was issued.