1 Balboa

Panama's 1 Balboa of 1941 was issued by a central bank that existed for less than two years. The Banco Central de Emisión was established in 1941 under President Arnulfo Arias Madrid as part of a broader economic nationalism drive — the same political moment that produced Panama's short-lived 1941 constitution. When Arias was overthrown in October of that year, the bank was dissolved and most of the currency recalled, giving the entire series an unusually compressed circulation window.

Hamilton Bank Note Company handled the print run from New York, which was standard practice for Panama given the dollar-pegged monetary relationship with the United States. The recalled notes were largely destroyed, making survivors disproportionately scarce relative to what the original print quantities might suggest.