Catalog
20 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in olive-green tones with a central vignette of a farmer ploughing a field with two horses, executed in fine intaglio engraving. To the right, an oval portrait of Simón Bolívar in military uniform appears within a fine-line lathe-work frame, while the denomination numeral '20' is repeated in the upper and lower corners. Inscriptions across the note include the bank name, capital amount, location, and a promise-to-pay clause at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE VENEZUELA SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA CAPITAL B/B.000,000 CARÁCAS No. VALOR VEINTE BOLÍVARES que se pagarán al portador en Carácas á la presentación. Por El Banco de Venezuela J.L. SECRETARIO VEINTE BOLÍVARES |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Banco de Venezuela was chartered in 1890 — the same year this note was issued — making this among the earliest paper the institution ever put into circulation. The American Bank Note Company handled the production in New York, which was standard practice for Venezuelan private banks at the time; domestic printing infrastructure simply did not exist at a scale capable of meeting the security demands of banknote production.
Pick 261 is genuinely scarce. The bank's early issues suffered heavy attrition through Venezuela's turbulent 1890s, a decade marked by chronic political instability and at least one significant monetary disruption under President Andueza Palacio's failed constitutionalist uprising of 1892, which badly strained the banking system.