Catalog
1 Peso
| Issuer | Tesorería General de Nicaragua |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Black on orange underprint, with a seated child holding a lyre at left, a central vignette of a woman with sheep at top center, and a bull's head at right. The face carries a double overprint reading 'TESORERÍA GENERAL' over the original 'BANCO AGRÍCOLA MERCANTIL' issuer text, applied pursuant to the Decree of 20 March 1896. Order numbers are printed in red. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO AGRÍCOLA MERCANTIL UNO UNO UNO UNO American Bank Note Company, New York Overstamp: TESORERÍA GENERAL NICARAGUA Registrado (Translation: Mercantile Agricultural Bank One One One One American Bank Note Company, New York / Overstamp: General Treasury Nicaragua Registered) |
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| Comments |
The Tesorería General de Nicaragua occupied an unusual position — a government treasury office issuing currency directly rather than through a chartered bank, a workaround common in Central American states where banking infrastructure remained underdeveloped and foreign concessions complicated matters. This 1896 peso is an overprint on stock originally prepared for the Banco Agrícola Mercantil, which never fully established itself as a functioning note-issuing institution. Rather than waste engraved ABNC plates and printed sheets, the treasury simply overstamped existing inventory.
The Banco Agrícola Mercantil base notes are scarce without the overprint. Surviving examples with it are not common either, given Nicaragua's turbulent monetary history through the late 1890s and early 1900s.