2 Quetzales

Guatemala's central bank was only five years old when this note was issued, having been established in 1926 to replace the failed private banking system that had collapsed under a currency crisis in the early 1920s. The Quetzal itself — introduced at par with the US dollar in 1925 — was still a relatively new unit, and the 1930s series printed by De La Rue represented the young institution's first properly standardized paper currency.

De La Rue's work for Guatemala in this period was among their more technically accomplished Central American commissions. The P#18A is catalogued as a distinct variety from the broader type 18 series, a distinction typically reflecting a signature combination change on the face of the note.