Catalog
1 Boliviano
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil |
|---|---|
| Year | 1906 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Dark blue-green intaglio print with a female portrait vignette at left in an oval frame, a central guilloche medallion bearing the numeral "1" and text "UNO", and the Bolivian coat of arms at right. Series letter "M" appears twice flanking the centre, with red serial numbers at upper corners. Issued at Oruro, Bolivia, dated 1º de Julio de 1906. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in dark green, the reverse centres on a large landscape vignette showing a rural Bolivian farm scene with cattle, figures, and low buildings against a mountain backdrop. The vignette is framed by elaborate guilloche scrollwork with quatrefoil rosette ornaments at each corner and the numeral "1" in decorative panels at left and right. The bank name appears in a straight legend below the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Mercantil was one of several Bolivian private banks authorized to issue notes under the 1890 banking law, a system that ended abruptly when the Banco de la Nación Boliviana was established in 1911 and note-issuing privileges were gradually consolidated under state control. This note predates that transition by five years.
ABNC held the printing contract for much of Bolivia's private banking paper in this period, and the quality of the intaglio work on Mercantil issues is noticeably finer than contemporaneous notes produced locally or by lesser contractors — a meaningful distinction when counterfeiting was a persistent problem in the altiplano markets where these circulated.