Catalog
2 Soles
| Issuer | Banco del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869-1873 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The upper register carries the bank title BANCO DEL PERÚ in large bold letterpress, beneath which a central guilloche underprint in teal and blue tones occupies the body of the note. Two female portrait vignettes in fine intaglio engraving appear at the left and lower-centre positions, flanking the denomination text DOS SOLES, with the numeral 2 in ornate panels at both lateral margins. The place of issue and date are entered in manuscript ink in the lower portion, above two handwritten manuscript signatures with the printed designation GERENTE. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DEL PERÚ DOS SOLES VALE DOS SOLES Á LA VISTA Y EN MONEDA CORRIENTE Lima GERENTE DOS SOLES |
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| Comments |
Banco del Perú was one of several private commercial banks licensed to issue notes under Peru's 1869 banking legislation, which opened the field to private issuance during a period of guano-driven fiscal expansion. The American Bank Note Company handled the printing — a common choice for South American institutions of the period, whose governments and private banks alike preferred the security features and prestige that ABNC's New York production carried.
The S-prefix in Pick places this firmly in the private bank series, distinct from government-issued Peruvian notes. By 1877, following repeated bank failures and currency instability, Peru moved to consolidate and restrict private note issuance — effectively ending the brief era of competing commercial bank paper that this note belongs to.