Catalog
1000 Sucres - Galápagos Tortoise
| Issuer | Galapagos Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents a Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger) in naturalistic detail, set against a stylized cartographic underprint of the Galápagos Islands archipelago. The denomination '1000 SUCRES' appears in bold lettering alongside the scientific name 'Chelonoidis niger' and the inscription 'GALÁPAGOS TORTOISE'. The overall design employs a warm earth-tone palette consistent with a commemorative collector issue. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears a detailed vignette of Darwin's Arch, the celebrated natural rock formation located southeast of Darwin Island in the Galápagos archipelago, rendered in a scenic engraving style. A portrait of the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) appears alongside the arch motif, with the denomination '1000 SUCRES' repeated in bold type. A disclaimer legend running across the lower register explicitly identifies the note as a non-legal-tender collector's item. |
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| Comments |
The Galápagos Islands have no monetary authority, no central bank, and no legal basis to issue currency — they are a province of Ecuador, which has used the U.S. dollar as its official currency since 2000. A "1000 Sucres" denomination compounds the fiction: the sucre was retired in 2000 at 25,000 per dollar and no longer exists in any form. This note is a novelty or fantasy item with no issued status in any recognized catalog.