10 Centavos Fuertes Banco Nacional del Paraguay

The Banco Nacional del Paraguay was established in 1885, just a decade after the War of the Triple Alliance had reduced the country's population by an estimated half — some figures put male casualties alone at catastrophic proportions. This note, issued the following year, was part of the institution's earliest emissions, attempting to reconstruct a monetary system from almost nothing. The ABNC contract reflects how thoroughly Paraguayan financial infrastructure had to be imported; there was simply no domestic capacity to produce secure currency.

The "Fuertes" denomination was a holdover designation distinguishing these notes from the debased paper that had circulated during and after the war years.