Catalog
10 Centavos Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co.
| Issuer | Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913-1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Centavos (0.10) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in brown, the reverse presents a dense, symmetrical guilloche composition centred on a large numeral '10' within an elaborate foliate and floral medallion. Flanking the central motif are two large ornamental volutes, while Greek key bands frame the upper and lower registers. Corner squares carry rosette vignettes, and a fine sawtooth frieze runs along the top edge, giving the design a richly engraved appearance. |
| Reverse lettering | 10 |
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| Comments |
The Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co. was a British-registered utility operating in the Paraguayan capital, and this token note was issued to address the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Paraguay in the early twentieth century. With the government largely unable to supply adequate fractional coinage, private tramway and commercial companies routinely filled the gap with their own paper — technically illegal tender beyond their own counters, but widely accepted out of necessity.
The Compañía Sudamericana de Billetes de Banco printed for several South American governments and private issuers before closing in 1918, which places this note near the end of that firm's operational run.