1000 Sucres

The Banco Central del Ecuador leaned heavily on the American Bank Note Company throughout the mid-twentieth century, and this high-denomination 1000 Sucres issue reflects that long dependence on New York-printed currency. Ecuador had no domestic security printing capability of its own during this period, making ABNC the default for prestige denominations.

The sucre itself had been under sustained inflationary pressure since the 1950s, and by the early 1970s a 1000-sucre note — once an exceptional denomination — was becoming routine commercial tender. Ecuador would eventually replace the sucre entirely with the US dollar in 2000, one of the more dramatic currency abandonments in Latin American history.