Catalog
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| Issuer | Banco Caracas |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1928 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Bolívares |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio printing on a pale orange and cream underprint. A central vignette presents the Banco Caracas building facade in fine line engraving, flanked on both sides by large numeral 10 counters with guilloche rosette surrounds. The upper register carries the bank title BANCO CARACAS – COMPAÑIA ANONIMA in bold letterpress, with série and serial number panels at upper left and right. Below the central vignette, a panel reads DIEZ BOLIVARES / A LA PRESENTACION DE ESTE BILLETE / EN LAS OFICINAS DEL BANCO, with CAPITAL B.6.000.000 and CARACAS at foot, and the printer's imprint American Bank Note Co. New York at the bottom margin. Two manuscript director signatures appear at lower left and center. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Uniformly printed in deep red-brown intaglio on plain paper. The design is dominated by an elaborate interlocking guilloche framework with large numeral 10 / BOLIVARES counters at left and right. A central circular vignette contains the Venezuelan coat of arms with cornucopia, fasces, and horse, surrounded by an ornate lathe-work border. BANCO CARACAS arches above the arms vignette, with COMPAÑIA ANONIMA below it. The foot of the note carries X CAPITAL X – B.6.000.000. flanked by fine geometric lathe-work bands, and the printer's imprint AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK appears at the bottom margin. |
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| Comments |
Banco Caracas was one of three private Venezuelan banks of issue still operating in the 1920s, a survivor of the era when commercial banks rather than a central bank controlled the money supply. Venezuela would not establish the Banco Central until 1940, so notes like this one circulated alongside issues from Banco de Venezuela and Banco de Maracaibo in a fragmented, competitive system that successive governments repeatedly tried and failed to consolidate.
The ABNC contract for Banco Caracas is well-documented. Serial numbers and signatures were typically applied after delivery from New York, with hand-signing by bank officers a requirement through much of the series run.