Catalog
20 Soles
| Issuer | Banco de Arequipa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO DE AREQUIPA Veinte Soles ARQEUQIPA Pagsa al Portador a la vista en moneda de GERENTE DIRECTOR |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a solid red-brown tone and dominated by a large central medallion bearing the bold numeral "20" within an intricate lathe-work surround. The inscriptions "BANCO DE" and "AREQUIPA" flank the central numeral horizontally, and the entire field is filled with elaborate symmetrical guilloche rosettes and ornamental scroll-work panels typical of American Bank Note Company engraving. |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Arequipa was one of several regional Peruvian banks that issued private banknotes under the 1869 banking law, which briefly opened the field to provincial institutions before Lima-based banks and, eventually, state consolidation squeezed them out. The Arequipa bank's notes were redeemable locally — a practical constraint in a country where Lima and the southern highlands operated almost as separate economies.
ABNC's involvement was typical for South American private banks of this period seeking credibility through association with a prestigious foreign printer. The plates were almost certainly engraved in New York and shipped as finished printed sheets.