Catalog
100 Soles
| Issuer | Banco del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green-tinted note with the bank title BANCO DEL PERU in large bold lettering across the upper centre, above a central harbour vignette with sailing vessels; a female portrait medallion occupies the centre and a second female portrait vignette appears at left, both set within an elaborate guilloche surround. The denomination panel VALE CIEN SOLES is positioned below the central vignette, with the place of issue Lima and a manuscript date inscribed beneath. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion of the note, above a dense guilloche underprint carrying repeated 100 counters along the borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DEL PERU VALE CIEN SOLES Lima |
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| Comments |
The Banco del Perú was a short-lived Lima institution, chartered in the early 1870s during a period of intense banking proliferation in Peru fueled by guano revenue and loose credit. By the time notes like this one were reaching circulation, the fiscal architecture underpinning that boom was already cracking. The bank did not survive the broader collapse that preceded the War of the Pacific.
ABNC printed for dozens of Latin American issuers during this period, and the quality of the engraving work generally outpaced the solvency of the institutions placing the orders. Whether significant quantities of this 100 Soles denomination ever circulated before the bank's failure is unclear — high-denomination notes from failed issuers of this era often did not.