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20 Bolivianos Banco Potosi
| Issuer | Banco Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887 |
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| Currency | First boliviano (1864-1963) |
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| Obverse description | Black and salmon intaglio print on white paper; left vignette shows a reclining allegorical female figure with a torch amid a landscape, right vignette shows a standing female figure holding flowers. Central guilloche medallion bears the numeral '20' and 'VEINTE BOLIVIANOS'; bank name 'El Banco Potosí' in ornate gothic lettering at upper left, date 'Sucre, Enero 1º de 1887' at lower centre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO POTOSÍ 20 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
Banco Potosí was one of several regional Bolivian banks authorized to issue their own currency under the 1871 banking law, which allowed provincial institutions to print notes redeemable in silver — a practical necessity in a country where coin supply was chronically inadequate outside major centers. Potosí itself was the logical seat for such an institution, given its centuries-long role as Bolivia's primary silver-producing region.
The American Bank Note Company held a near-monopoly on South American commercial bank printing in this period, supplying institutions from Buenos Aires to Lima with engraved notes that the local market associated with legitimacy and anti-counterfeiting sophistication. Regional Bolivian bank notes from the 1880s are genuinely scarce — many institutions had short operational lives before the 1890 banking crisis forced consolidation.