Catalog
100 Centavos de Inca
| Issuer | República del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears a bold black overprint reading BILLETE PROVISIONAL across the upper portion, with the denomination 100 CENTAVOS DE INCA set in heavy letterpress at centre. To the left stands an allegorical female figure in classical robes with one arm raised, while a central oval vignette contains a bust portrait of the bearded José Gálvez, named in an inscription below the portrait. A guilloche rosette panel occupies the right margin, and the note is completed by a manuscript date and place notation for Lima, 1881, accompanied by two handwritten authorising signatures. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BILLETE PROVISIONAL 100 CENTAVOS DE INCA JOSÉ GÁLVEZ Lima 100 CIEN |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to one of the most chaotic monetary episodes in Peruvian history. The Inca was introduced in 1881 as a forced currency during the War of the Pacific, when Chilean forces occupied Lima and the Peruvian government had effectively collapsed. With no functioning treasury and silver coinage hoarded or exported, the provisional government under Francisco García Calderón authorized paper emission backed by nothing credible.
The public refused it almost universally. Merchants discounted it heavily or rejected it outright, and much of the issue circulated — if it circulated at all — at fractions of face value. The series was short-lived and largely repudiated once political authority was partially restored.
Pick 13 is among the scarcer denominations of the Inca series, partly because low-value notes saw harder use and partly because few bothered to preserve currency so widely distrusted.