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50 Soles
| Issuer | Compañia de Obras Públicas y Fomento del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876 |
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| Printer | National Bank Note Company |
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| Obverse description | At left, a classical allegorical female figure is seated with a lion at her feet, rendered in intaglio against a fine guilloche underprint in blue. The central field carries the issuer's title in two arched lines above the promise legend 'Pagará a la vista al portador' and the denomination 'Cincuenta Soles' in large red letterpress text, flanked by '50' counters at each side. At right, a rectangular vignette presents a railway locomotive and station scene, with the date 'Lima, Julio 4 de 1876' and two manuscript signatures for Director and Presidente appearing in the lower portion. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue, with an elaborate geometric guilloche pattern filling the entire field and incorporating interlocking rosette and lozenge motifs throughout. A circular central panel carries the issuer's legend around its border, with large '50' numerals at left and right within ornate counters. Cancellation handstamps are visible across the centre, and the printer's imprint appears at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Compañia de Obras Públicas y Fomento del Perú was a private concession company operating under government contract, not a bank — which makes this note an unusual instrument. The Peruvian government granted the company quasi-banking privileges during the 1870s fiscal crisis as part of arrangements tied to guano revenue and public works financing. Issuing circulating notes was part of that deal.
National Bank Note Company of New York printed the series, the same firm behind much of Latin America's paper currency in this period. The company merged into the American Bank Note Company in 1879, three years after this issue.