Catalog
10 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Comercial de Maracaibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1933-1934 |
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| Value | 10 Bolívares |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Red-toned note with an ornate guilloche border framing the entire design. At centre, an oval vignette contains a portrait bust of Simón Bolívar in military uniform, flanked by large numeral '10' counters on both sides. The bank title 'BANCO COMERCIAL DE MARACAIBO' and 'COMPANIA ANONIMA' appear in the upper panel, while the denomination legend 'DIEZ BOLIVARES' is inscribed in a cartouche below the central vignette, accompanied by a redemption clause in small text. The note bears a date at lower left, serial numbers at upper left and upper right, and multiple manuscript signatures across the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in a uniform deep red on the reverse, the design centres on an oval vignette with a dynamic scene of horsemen on an open plain, rendered in fine intaglio line work. Large numeral '10' counters occupy the left and right flanks within an elaborate guilloche framework. The bank title 'BANCO COMERCIAL DE MARACAIBO' arches above the central vignette, with 'COMPANIA ANONIMA' inscribed along the lower margin. A small printer's imprint from the American Bank Note Company appears at the bottom edge. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Comercial de Maracaibo was one of the last surviving regional commercial banks in Venezuela still issuing its own currency during the early 1930s. By this point the Banco Central de Venezuela did not yet exist — it wouldn't be established until 1940 — leaving a handful of regional institutions still exercising note-issuing authority under federal license. This note belongs to that closing window.
ABNC printed for dozens of Latin American clients during this period, and the Maracaibo series is among the rarer commissions — the bank's catchment was the oil-boom economy of Zulia state, but circulation was geographically bounded and issue volumes were modest. The series was effectively dead before Venezuela's central banking reform rendered all private issue moot.