Catalog
20 Pesos Plata
| Issuer | Banco Atlántida |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
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| Reference(s) | P#115 |
| Obverse description | Dark blue intaglio-printed note with an elaborate guilloche border and repeated denomination numeral '20' in each corner. A central vignette presents a classical allegorical female figure seated among rocks and water with a globe and anchor, rendered in fine line engraving. The bank title 'EL BANCO ATLANTIDA' arches across the top panel above the promise text, with 'LA CEIBA, HONDURAS' at lower left and the date '1º DE ABRIL DE 1913' at lower right, above the signature lines for El Presidente, El Gerente, and El Ministro de Hacienda. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | VEINTE PESOS PLATA BANCO ATLANTIDA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
Banco Atlántida was a Honduran commercial bank granted note-issuing privileges during the early twentieth century, when Honduras had no central bank and private institutions filled the gap. The American Bank Note Company handled the printing, as it did for the overwhelming majority of Latin American private bank issues of the period — the New York shop was essentially the default choice for any issuer wanting internationally credible engraved notes.
Pick 115 is among the scarcer denominations from this issuer. Higher-value private bank notes in Central America rarely circulated widely; they moved between merchants and houses of commerce rather than through ordinary hands, which means surviving examples tend to show either very light use or heavy handling — almost nothing in between.