Catalog
100 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Francisco Argandoña |
|---|---|
| Year | 1893 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Bolivianos |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO FRANCISCO ARGANDOÑA PAGARA A LA VISTA AL PORTADOR CIEN BOLIVIANOS EN MONEDA CORRIENTE EMISION DE JULIO 1 DE 1893 CIEN BOLIVIANOS |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | EL BANCO FRANCISCO ARGANDOÑA AUTORIZADO POR LEY DE 12 OCTUBRE DE 1892 100 CIEN |
| 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 |
Banco Francisco Argandoña was a private commercial bank operating out of La Paz during Bolivia's free-banking period, when the state had effectively ceded note-issuing authority to a cluster of regional private institutions. The arrangement lasted roughly two decades before the Banco de la Nación Boliviana absorbed most of these privileges in the early twentieth century.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is the main technical point of interest here. The London firm handled security printing for numerous South American private banks during this period, and their intaglio work gave these provincial issues a quality of engraving that far exceeded what the issuing banks themselves could have arranged locally.
At 100 Bolivianos, this was a high-denomination instrument — almost certainly used for inter-merchant settlement rather than retail trade.