Catalog
1 Real Plata Boliviana
| Issuer | Otero y Cía., Córdoba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Horizontally formatted note with the issuer's name 'OTERO Y Cía.' in large bold letters across the upper centre. Two oval guilloche vignettes at left and right each contain the numeral '1', flanking a central engraved vignette of a tower or fortress with decorative foliage and a torch. The denomination 'REAL' appears in ornate lettering below each lateral vignette. A manuscript date 'Abril 1º de 1869' and place name 'Córdoba' appear in the lower portion, accompanied by a red-printed serial number box and a handwritten signature. The printer's imprint 'Compañía Americana de Billetes de Banco Nueva York' is typeset along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | PROVINCIA DE CÓRDOBA INSPECCIÓN DE BANCOS V.º B.º |
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| Comments |
Otero y Cía. was a private commercial house in Córdoba, not a chartered bank, which made its note-issuing activity legally ambiguous under Argentine provincial practice of the period. The American Bank Note Company in New York — here styled under its earlier corporate name — supplied the plates, a common arrangement for Argentine provincial and quasi-banking entities that lacked the infrastructure to produce secure currency domestically.
The denomination in Bolivian silver reales rather than Argentine pesos reflects the monetary chaos of the interior provinces in the 1860s, where Bolivian coinage still circulated widely and local merchants denominated obligations in whatever specie their customers actually held.