Catalog
1 Sucre
| Issuer | Banco del Pichincha |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Sucre |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black and grey tones on a light ground, with a formal intaglio portrait vignette of a moustachioed gentleman in a suit occupying the left panel within an oval frame. The centre carries the large numeral '1' set within an ornate guilloche rosette, flanked by the issuer's name in bold lettering and the text 'PAGARÁ AL PORTADOR A LA VISTA' above; the place of issue 'Quito' appears in a cartouche below. Serial numbers are printed as '00000' in red, and two red SPECIMEN overprints appear at the bottom, with cancellation punch holes; the imprint of the American Bank Note Co., New York is noted at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is engraved in a single olive-green tone, centred on a large allegorical vignette of a classical female figure reclining and gesturing outward, rendered in fine intaglio detail within a framed rectangular panel. Flanking the central vignette on both sides are large ornate guilloche rosettes each incorporating the numeral '1', surrounded by intricate lathe-work geometric patterns that fill the entire field. The issuer's name appears in two parts above and below the central vignette, with the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK' at the foot. |
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| Comments |
Banco del Pichincha was a regional commercial bank in Quito, not Ecuador's central bank — the country wouldn't establish a central bank until 1927, meaning private institutions like Pichincha held genuine note-issuing authority during this period. This was a contested arrangement: competing banks circulated their own sucres, and the government repeatedly intervened to regulate, consolidate, and occasionally invalidate private banknote issues throughout the early twentieth century.
ABNC's engraved plates for Ecuadorian provincial banks were often shared or adapted across multiple clients, worth checking against related series if provenance research matters.