2 Soles

The Banco Nacional del Perú was established in 1873 with significant backing from foreign capital, and its note-issuing period was brutally short — the bank collapsed under the financial strain of the War of the Pacific, which broke out in 1879. Notes from this series had barely two years of viable circulation before the war disrupted the entire Peruvian banking system and rendered most private bank issues worthless or unredeemable.

The American Bank Note Company engraved and printed the full series in New York. The ABNC's work for Peruvian banks during this period was prolific — they held contracts with several competing Lima institutions simultaneously.