Catalog
20 Pesos
| Issuer | República de Chile (Treasury) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1903-1914 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black on brown or red underprint. A flower girl vignette at left and a portrait of an unidentified figure at right frame a central vignette of the Casa de la Moneda facade in Santiago. A fringe border surrounds the VEINTE PESOS legend along the bottom margin, distinguishing this type from earlier issues. Handstamp varieties are known. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse is composed entirely of intricate guilloche lathe-work arranged in a symmetrical geometric layout. The numeral "20" appears in ornate circular guilloche medallions at both left and right, while the central panel carries the three-line denomination inscription in bold serif lettering, all framed by a fine engine-turned border. The printer's imprint "American Bank Note Co. New-York" appears twice along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Chile's Treasury — not the Banco de Chile or any commercial issuer — put its name directly on this series, a reflection of the ongoing political friction over which institution should hold monopoly on note issuance in the early republic. The American Bank Note Company held Chile's printing contract through much of this period, producing work of consistently high intaglio quality for a client list that stretched across Latin America.
The 1903–1914 date range spans Chile's nitrate boom years, when the country controlled the bulk of global saltpeter supply and fiscal revenues were running high enough that Treasury paper was genuinely trusted.