20 Quetzales Banco de Guatemala, Provisional issue

Guatemala's 1945 constitution abolished the Caja Reguladora and reestablished the Banco de Guatemala as the sole bank of issue — this note belongs to the transitional provisional series printed while the new institution was still consolidating its legal and operational framework. Waterlow & Sons produced the sheets in London, but the "provisional" designation reflects domestic administrative status, not anything provisional about the printing.

P#22 is considerably scarcer than the lower denominations in the same series. The 20-quetzal face value was high enough that most examples saw limited street circulation and were used primarily in commercial transactions, which ironically reduced survival rates through institutional handling rather than wear.