Catalog
| Issuer | Banco Industrial de La Paz |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S151 |
| Obverse description | Left vignette of three indigenous Bolivian figures in traditional dress; central guilloche medallion with denomination numeral "1" and allegorical female figure at right. Bank title in bold letterpress across top, date "La Paz, Junio 1° de 1900" at bottom, with series letter E and printed serial numbers in red at lower corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO INDUSTRIAL DE LA PAZ, BOLIVIA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
Banco Industrial de La Paz was one of several regional Bolivian banks authorized to issue private banknotes under the 1890 banking law, which devolved currency issuance away from the central government at a moment when Bolivia's silver-based economy was already straining under falling international prices. The American Bank Note Company handled the engraving and printing, as it did for the majority of Latin American private bank issues of this period — the New York firm had essentially cornered that market by offering security printing infrastructure that no Bolivian institution could replicate domestically.
Bolivia's free banking era ended abruptly with the 1914 nationalization push, and most provincial bank notes were withdrawn and destroyed, making survivors from smaller-denomination La Paz issues genuinely uncommon.