100 Quetzales

Guatemala's 100 Quetzal note has been printed by De La Rue since the series was modernized in the early 2000s, continuing a long relationship between the Banco de Guatemala and the British security printer that dates back several decades. The denomination sits at the top of the Guatemalan circulating series — there is no higher value note in everyday use — which gives it outsized importance in a cash-heavy economy where card infrastructure remains uneven outside Guatemala City.

The color-shifting ink on this issue is applied to the numeral, a concession to regional counterfeiting pressure that became pronounced across Central American high-denomination notes in the 2000s. P#126 covers a wide issuing window, so date varieties within this Pick number are worth distinguishing individually.