Catalog
2 Soles
| Issuer | Banco de Tacna |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on cream paper and centres on a vignette of a steam locomotive with passenger carriages in a tropical landscape with palm trees. To the upper right, a circular guilloche medallion encloses the numeral '2', while a lower-right vignette presents an allegorical mother-and-child group in fine intaglio engraving. The bank title 'EL BANCO DE TACNA' appears in bold letterpress across the centre, with the text 'pagará al portador a la vista DOS SOLES en moneda CORRIENTE' below, and a manuscript serial number and red overprint visible in the upper field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in terracotta-red ink and displays a large central cartouche bearing the inscriptions 'EL BANCO DE TACNA' and 'DOS SOLES' in bold serif lettering, surrounded by intricate lathe-work guilloche rosettes. Matching large numeral '2' medallions in guilloche framework appear at the left and right extremities, and a continuous ornamental border of fine engine-turned scrollwork frames the entire composition. |
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| Comments |
Banco de Tacna occupied a peculiar position in South American monetary history — it operated in a city whose national sovereignty was genuinely unresolved. Tacna was occupied by Chile following the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) and remained under Chilean administration until 1929, when the Tacna-Arica compromise finally returned it to Peru. Notes issued by the bank during that occupation period existed in a city that was legally neither fully Chilean nor Peruvian, and circulated accordingly.
Pick 383 is thinly documented in most major references, which likely reflects the bank's limited operational scale rather than any printing anomaly. Attribution of printer and exact issue dates remains uncertain.