Catalog
1 Boliviano
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Bolivia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#S205 |
| Obverse description | Pink and black note with the bank title EL BANCO NACIONAL DE BOLIVIA in an arc at upper left. A central intaglio vignette presents a condor with spread wings perched on a rocky outcrop, rendered in dark blue-black. To the right, an oval portrait vignette shows a uniformed military figure in intaglio. The serial number ZZ 77453 appears twice, the date line reads Sucre, Enero 1° de 1883, and the denomination UN BOLIVIANO EN MONEDA CORRIENTE is set in bold letterpress across the lower centre, above facsimile signatures. A repeating UNO guilloche border frames the entire note. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#S205a - Issued note |
| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de Bolivia was established in 1871 with a government concession, but its early note issues circulated in an economy still heavily dependent on silver — the Bolivian peso had only recently been redefined, and public confidence in private bank paper was fragile at best. ABNC handled the engraving and printing, as they did for the majority of Latin American bank concessions in this period, when domestic printing infrastructure was essentially nonexistent across the region.
The switch to the "boliviano" denomination in 1864 had replaced the old peso at a 1:1 ratio, so by 1883 the name carried nearly two decades of use — enough to feel established, not enough to feel stable.