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20 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Caracas, Compañía Anónima |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1928 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#S153 |
| Obverse description | Dark green and black note with a central text block bearing the bank name BANCO CARACAS and COMPAÑÍA ANÓNIMA in large display lettering, with the denomination VEINTE BOLÍVARES in bold letterpress below a promise-to-pay clause. A circular vignette at the lower left contains a portrait of a young woman in classical attire, while a cherub or child figure occupies the lower right corner within an ornate guilloche border frame. The serial number, date line reading 'Caracas, de 19__', and spaces for Director and Gerente signatures appear across the lower portion of the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO CARACAS COMPAÑIA ANONIMA CAPITAL Bs. 6.000.000 VEINTE BOLIVARES A LA PRESENTACION DE ESTE BILLETE Caracas, de 19 DIRECTOR GERENTE The Homer Lee Bank Note Co. New York |
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| Comments |
The Banco Caracas was one of several Venezuelan private banks of issue operating under government concession during the period before the Banco Central de Venezuela's establishment in 1940. Homer Lee Bank Note Co. was a mid-tier New York security printer that handled a number of Latin American commercial bank contracts during the 1920s — competitive with but distinctly below the prestige of American Bank Note Company, whose dominant regional position it occasionally undercut on price.
Private bank notes in Venezuela were progressively squeezed out through the 1930s as the oil boom reshaped the country's monetary architecture. Many Banco Caracas notes were redeemed and destroyed during that consolidation, which accounts for the relative scarcity of surviving examples across the series.