20 Bolívares

The Banco Comercial was one of several private Venezuelan banks authorized to issue notes under the banking legislation of the 1870s, a period when no central bank existed and commercial institutions filled the void. This note predates the prolonged monetary turbulence that would eventually push Venezuela toward centralized currency control in the early twentieth century.

The American Bank Note Company printed for dozens of Latin American issuers during this period, and their Venezuelan commissions are well documented. The ABNC's engraved intaglio work on Venezuelan private bank issues is generally of high quality, though the Banco Comercial had a relatively short operational life — the bank did not survive into the next century, which kept total note production and survival numbers low.