Catalog
20 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1873 |
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| Reference(s) | P#301 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on white paper, centered on a central vignette of a young woman in classical style with flowers in her hair, set within an ornate oval frame with fine guilloche work. To either side, large numeral '20' counters appear within circular lathe-work medallions, with 'CENTAVOS' lettered below each. The bank title 'EL BANCO NACIONAL DEL PERU' arcs across the top, serial numbers appear in red at upper left and upper right, and the promise text 'Pagaré á la vista al portador VEINTE CENTAVOS' is inscribed centrally above the date 'Lima Enero 1° de 1873', with two manuscript signatures below for the Director and Gerente. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue with an elaborate all-over geometric lathe-work design composed of three large circular guilloche medallions, the central one with a complex floral rosette pattern, flanked by two smaller ones each bearing the numeral '20' above 'CENTAVOS'. Corner ornaments of intricate engine-turned work fill the remaining space, with 'EL BANCO NACIONAL DEL PERU' lettered across the upper and lower registers. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional del Perú was founded in 1872 with backing from a consortium of private Peruvian investors, making it one of several competing commercial banks that briefly flourished before the fiscal catastrophe of the War of the Pacific. This 20 Centavos note is among the smallest denominations the bank issued — fractional notes of this type were a practical response to the chronic shortage of small silver coinage circulating in Lima and coastal port towns during the early 1870s.
ABNC produced the plates in New York under their standard intaglio process. The bank itself collapsed in 1877, well before the war, leaving unredeemed notes in circulation longer than anyone intended.