500 Colones

Banco Occidental was one of several private Guatemalan banks of issue that lost their note-issuing privileges when the Caja Reguladora was established in 1924 and the government moved to centralize currency control. A 500 Colones denomination from a private Guatemalan bank in 1925 is a significant face value — this was not everyday commerce paper.

The American Bank Note Company produced the plates in New York, their standard arrangement for Central American private banks throughout this period. Whether these notes actually circulated in meaningful quantities after 1924 is uncertain; the timing suggests they may have been printed against existing contracts just as the issuing authority was losing its right to put them into use.