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2 Colones
| Issuer | Banco Occidental |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue and green intaglio-printed note with a central vignette of two allegorical figures in an embrace, framed by an ornate guilloche border with rosette underprints at left and right. The bank title EL BANCO OCCIDENTAL appears in an arched cartouche at the top centre, with the denomination numeral 2 repeated at all four corners and in an oval medallion at centre; SERIE A and serial number panels appear at the outer margins. The lower border carries the obligation text PAGARÁ A LA VISTA AL PORTADOR DOS COLONES EN MONEDA ACUÑADA DE ORO, with place and date SAN SALVADOR and 1° de Mayo de 1920 flanking the central text, and signature lines for Gerente, Presidente, and Cajero at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO OCCIDENTAL DOS COLONES PAGARÁ A LA VISTA AL PORTADOR DOS COLONES EN MONEDA ACUÑADA DE ORO SAN SALVADOR 1° de Mayo de 1920 SERIE A GERENTE PRESIDENTE CAJERO AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
Banco Occidental was one of a handful of Guatemalan private banks authorized to issue currency under the 1874 banking law, operating out of Quetzaltenango — Guatemala's second city and the commercial heart of the western coffee-growing highlands. The American Bank Note Company produced paper for most of these regional Guatemalan issuers, which means surviving notes from different banks often share plate architecture and border treatments, distinguished mainly by the name and overprinted details.
By 1920 the bank's days were numbered. Guatemala's 1926 monetary reform consolidated issue authority under the Banco Central, ending private bank circulation entirely. Notes from this final period of Occidental's operation are scarcer than earlier emissions.