Catalog
1 Peso Banco Agricola
| Issuer | Banco Agrícola de Chile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Peso |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black on orange underprint. At left, a vignette of a young girl holding a flower; at center, a seated female allegorical figure representing Agriculture; at right, a reclining female figure with fruits. The composition is executed in the intaglio style characteristic of American Bank Note Company productions of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse is laid out symmetrically with an oval central cartouche bearing the bank name flanked on each side by circular guilloche medallions with the numeral 1. Elaborate lathe-work guilloche rosettes and scalloped border patterns fill the corners and margins throughout. The overall design relies entirely on geometric engine-turned ornament with no pictorial vignettes. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Agrícola de Chile was one of several private Chilean banks authorized under the 1860 banking law, which permitted note-issuing privileges without requiring full specie backing — a deliberate policy choice that fueled agricultural credit but also chronic over-issue. By the mid-1880s, Chilean private banknotes were circulating at discounts that varied wildly by region and issuer reputation.
ABNC engraved the plates in New York, as they did for most Latin American private banks of this period. The S-prefix in the Pick catalogue designates this as a state or private commercial bank issue rather than a central authority note.