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20 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931-1939 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Bolívar (1879-1971) |
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| Obverse description | Brown-toned note with a central intaglio vignette of a llanero on horseback herding cattle across an open plain, framed by intricate guilloche work and large numeral '20' counters at left and right. The bank title 'BANCO DE VENEZUELA' arcs across the top in bold letterpress, flanked by 'CAPITAL' and 'SOCIEDAD ANONIMA' inscriptions, with serial numbers in red at upper center. The lower panel bears the denomination legend 'VEINTE BOLIVARES' and the payability clause in letterpress. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO DE VENEZUELA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Venezuela was a private commercial bank — not a central bank — when this series was issued. Venezuela's central bank, the Banco Central de Venezuela, wasn't established until 1940, meaning private institutions like this one bore the responsibility for note issuance during an economically turbulent decade shaped by the Gómez dictatorship and, after his death in 1935, the difficult transition toward democratic governance.
ABNC's relationship with Venezuelan issuers stretched back decades by this point, and the intaglio quality typical of their New York output is consistent across the P#311 series. The watermark remains the sole mechanical security feature — modest for the period, though not unusual for regional South American issues of the 1930s.