Catalog
2 Pesos Tesoro Nacional
| Issuer | Tesoro Nacional, Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 2 Pesos |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The national coat of arms of Paraguay, in the flags version with a goat vignette at upper left, is placed at center. The issuer title "REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY" runs along the top, with the face value "2" repeated numerically in all four corners and rendered in letterpress text rotated 90° along both lateral margins and spelled out in full along the bottom. A central panel bears the bearer obligation text and anti-counterfeiting legend in a typeset letterpress format. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | No watermark. |
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| Comments |
One of the very few banknotes in South American history to have been printed domestically rather than contracted to a European house, this note was produced by Charles Riviere's lithographic workshop in Asunción — a direct consequence of Francisco Solano López's policy of building internal industrial capacity ahead of the Paraguayan War. The quality limitations of local lithography are visible in surviving examples, and genuine wear damage can be difficult to distinguish from production inconsistency.
The Tesoro Nacional series of 1860 represents Paraguay's first domestically issued paper currency. Within five years, the country would be in the most destructive war in Latin American history, and the entire monetary infrastructure built around these notes would be obliterated.