100 Bolívares

The Banco de Maracaibo was a regional commercial bank operating out of Venezuela's principal trading port, not a state institution — its notes circulated on the bank's own credit, not the government's. By 1889, Maracaibo's economy was still running largely on coffee and cacao exports through the Gulf of Venezuela, and privately issued regional banknotes were a practical necessity in a country where no unified national currency system yet functioned reliably.

The American Bank Note Company printed for dozens of Latin American private and state banks during this period, and production quality was generally high. At the 100 bolívares denomination, surviving examples of S202 are genuinely scarce — high-value private bank issues from this era rarely circulated long before being redeemed or withdrawn.