Catalog
2 Venezolanos
| Issuer | Estado de Guayana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1878 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown and green tones on plain paper. At upper centre, the heading ESTADO DE GUAYANA appears within a decorative border, flanked by the word DOS at left and the numeral 2 at right, with ornamental guilloche work throughout. At lower left, the coat of arms of Guayana is depicted, while at right a classical allegorical female figure stands; the centre field carries the handwritten date Ciudad Bolívar, Agosto 31 de 1878, the series and serial number, and two manuscript signatures beneath the printed titles El Presidente and El Tesorero. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ESTADO DE GUAYANA DOS 2 Vale por DOS VENEZOLANOS amortizable con el treinta por ciento de las veinte unidades, destinado a la amortización. No. 131 Serie VII Cd. Bolivar Agosto 31 de 1878 EL PRESIDENTE EL TESORERO |
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| Comments |
The Estado de Guayana was one of several Venezuelan regional states that briefly exercised independent note-issuing authority during the federal reorganization period of the 1870s. These emissions were not backed by a central banking framework — they circulated on the credit of the state government alone, which in Guayana's case meant a remote, sparsely populated territory whose economy ran largely on cattle and rubber extraction.
The two manuscript signatures of Tomas Machado and M. Asuyo are almost certainly those of state treasury officials rather than bankers. Notes signed by hand in this manner were typical of low-volume regional issues where printed signature facsimiles were not worth the plate cost.