Catalog
10 Pesos 1 Condor
| Issuer | Banco Central de Chile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931-1942 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Red-brown intaglio print on light yellow underprint. A portrait vignette of General Manuel Bulnes appears at right, without a name inscription beneath it. The note bears the issuer title and denomination in bold letterpress, with a convertibility clause and printer's imprint along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Red-brown on light yellow underprint. The central bank seal is positioned at right, surrounded by guilloche patterning. The denomination and issuer name are repeated in bold letterpress across the face. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Chile's Banco Central was established in 1925 under the Kemmerer monetary reform mission, and this note belongs to the first generation of issues printed entirely domestically — a deliberate policy shift away from European contract printers. The Talleres de Especies Valoradas in Santiago had been producing fiscal stamps and revenue paper for years before tackling banknotes, and the quality gap was visible to contemporaries.
The 1931 signature date places the earliest examples within weeks of the collapse of Chile's gold standard, suspended in April that year amid the global crash. Emiliano Figueroa Larraín, who signed the first issue as Banco Central president, had also served as Chilean head of state in the late 1920s — a rare case of a former president appearing as a signing official on currency rather than as a portrait subject.
The dual denomination — 10 Pesos and 1 Condor — reflects the transitional monetary nomenclature of the period; the Condor unit was never widely adopted in practice.