Catalog
20 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S175 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO MERCANTIL ORURO, BOLIVIA 1° DE JULIO DE 1911 PAGARÁ A LA VISTA AL PORTADOR 20 VEINTE BOLIVIANOS EN MONEDA CORRIENTE SERIE A SPECIMEN |
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| Variants | P#S175a - Issued note P#S175s - Specimen |
| Comments |
The Banco Mercantil was one of several Bolivian commercial banks granted note-issuing privileges in the late nineteenth century, operating under the 1890 banking law that allowed private institutions to circulate their own currency. That arrangement collapsed with the 1911 nationalization push that consolidated issuance under state control — notes from 1908 were among the last the Mercantil would produce before that authority was stripped away.
ABNC handled most of Bolivia's commercial bank printing during this period, and the contracts were rarely renegotiated between issues. The 20 Bolivianos denomination was the workhorse of mid-value commercial transactions in a country still heavily dependent on tin export revenues and limited domestic banking infrastructure.