Catalog
20 Pesos Banco de D.Matte y Ca.
| Issuer | Banco de D. Matte y Cía. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1888 |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in pinkish-red (rose-brown) ink, with an intricate all-over lathe-work and guilloche pattern forming a dense geometric underprint across the entire surface. The bank name 'BANCO DE D. MATTE Y Ca.' is set in bold serif lettering at center, flanked on each side by large numeral '20' cartouches surrounded by elaborate engine-turned rosette and scroll designs. The imprint of the American Bank Note Company appears in small type at the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | 20 BANCO DE D. MATTE Y Ca. 20 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
Banco de D. Matte y Cía. was one of several Chilean private banks operating under the 1860 Ley de Bancos, which permitted note-issuing rights to chartered commercial institutions. The Matte family banking house, connected to the powerful Santiago commercial elite, used the American Bank Note Company for its currency production — a common arrangement for Chilean private banks of the period, as ABNC's New York operation dominated South American banknote contracts through the 1880s and 1890s.
Chile's private banking era ended abruptly with the 1898 nationalization of note-issuing rights, after which most surviving private bank notes were redeemed and pulped. Uncirculated examples from this series are genuinely uncommon as a result.