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20 Quetzales
| Issuer | Banco de Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1972-1988 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Quetzales (20 GTQ) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Doctor Mariano Galvez, procer de la independencia and head of state of Guatemala in the Central American Federation, occupies the right half of the note in fine engraved style against a light guilloche underprint. A central vignette of the Guatemalan quetzal bird in flight is set against a multicolour underprint, flanked by the large numeral "20" at lower left and right. Three manuscript signatures appear along the lower margin, assigned to the Presidente, Gerente, and Jefe de la Contraloria de Cuentas, with the authorization date "6 Enero 1988" inscribed at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE GUATEMALA GUATEMALA, CENTRO AMERICA VEINTE QUETZALES DOCTOR MARIANO GALVEZ PROCER DE LA INDEPENDENCIA Y JEFE DE ESTADO DE GUATEMALA EN LA FEDERACION CENTROAMERICANA AUTORIZACION DE 6 ENERO 1988 PRESIDENTE GERENTE JEFE DE LA CONTRALORIA DE CUENTAS (Translation: Bank of Guatemala / Guatemala, Central America / Twenty Quetzales / Doctor Mariano Galvez / Hero of Independence and Head of State of Guatemala in the Central American Federation / Authorization of 6 January 1988) |
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| Comments |
Thomas De La Rue printed this series for Guatemala across a sixteen-year span, an unusually long run that reflects both the political instability of the period and the practical difficulty of establishing domestic printing capacity. Guatemala spent much of the 1970s and 1980s under successive military governments, and currency continuity — same design, same printer, same security specification — was one of the few constants the Banco de Guatemala could reliably maintain.
Dating individual notes within the 1972–1988 window matters considerably for cataloging purposes; the series includes multiple signature combinations tied to short-tenure finance ministers and central bank presidents who changed with each administration.