1 Peso - Sovereign State of Panama

Panama issued paper currency as a sovereign state within the Granadine Confederation — and later the United States of Colombia — before losing that fiscal autonomy entirely under centralized Bogotá governance in the 1880s. These notes predate the Canal Zone by nearly four decades and were produced during a period when the isthmus still functioned as a semi-autonomous commercial hub, flush with transit revenue from the Panama Railroad.

The American Bank Note Company contract places this squarely within ABNC's busy mid-century Latin American portfolio. P#S186 is a state-issued commercial note, not a national emission — the "S" prefix in Pick signals quasi-governmental or regional authority, which here carried real legal weight during the note's active years.