2½ Centavos

A private transport company issuing its own fractional currency is unusual anywhere; in Paraguay in 1913, it was a symptom of chronic small-change shortages that plagued the country well into the twentieth century. The Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co. — a foreign-capitalized utility operating trams and electric supply in the capital — printed these low-denomination notes through the Compañía Sud Américaine de Billetes de Banco in Buenos Aires, the same Argentine security printer that handled work for several South American governments and quasi-official entities of the period.

The denomination itself, 2½ centavos, signals a fare-related origin — likely issued to facilitate exact change on tram routes rather than for general commercial use.