Catalog
10 Pesos El Banco Mercantil de Yucatan
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil de Yucatán |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue-green intaglio with an elaborate all-over guilloche design composed of interlocking floral and geometric lathe-work patterns. Two large numeral '10' medallions appear at left and right within ornate circular frames, while the bank name 'Banco Mercantil de Yucatán' occupies a central cartouche in bold serif lettering. The imprint 'American Bank Note Company, New York' is printed at the bottom center; two revenue stamps and a circular 'Secretaría de Hacienda de Yucatán' handstamp are affixed to the note. |
| Reverse lettering | Banco Mercantil de Yucatán American Bank Note Company, New York Secretaría de Hacienda de Yucatán (Translation: Mercantile Bank of Yucatan / American Bank Note Company, New York / Treasury Secretariat of Yucatan) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Mercantil de Yucatán operated under the concession system established by Mexico's 1897 General Banking Law, which restricted note-issuing rights to chartered state banks — a deliberate attempt to curb the proliferation of wildcat paper that had plagued northern states in the previous decade. Yucatán's henequen boom made it one of the few provincial economies capable of actually backing that paper, and the Mercantil was its principal instrument.
The American Bank Note Company held the contract for much of Mexico's provincial bank printing during this period, and the quality of intaglio work on Yucatecan issues is noticeably finer than contemporaries printed by smaller houses. The 1897 banking framework was dismantled entirely after 1913 during the Huerta period, when most state bank concessions were effectively voided.