Catalog
20 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de Occidente |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in red on a light ground, dominated by an elaborate guilloche underprint with large ornamental numerals 20 at both left and right. A central circular vignette carries the Coat of Arms of Guatemala, surrounded by intricate lathe-work scrollwork and floral ornaments. The bank name and issuing city arc along the upper portion, while VEINTE PESOS is rendered in bold letters along the lower border. The printer's imprint of Waterlow & Sons Limited, London Wall, London, E.C. appears in small type at the base. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO DE OCCIDENTE EN QUEZALTENANGO 20 VEINTE PESOS Waterlow & Sons Limited, London Wall, London, E.C. |
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| Comments |
Banco de Occidente was a regional Colombian bank headquartered in Cali, one of several departmental institutions empowered to issue currency under Colombia's era of free banking that persisted until the Banco de la República's establishment in 1923. Waterlow & Sons handled a significant share of Latin American provincial bank printing during this period, and the quality of their intaglio work generally outstripped the notes these smaller banks could have sourced domestically.
By 1918, the clock was already running on institutions like Banco de Occidente — the 1923 monetary reforms would extinguish their right of issue entirely, making late-date examples from these regional banks the last of their kind.