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20 Soles = 25 Pesos
| Issuer | La Providencia - Sociedad General del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1864 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Soles |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries the ornate heading 'La Providencia / Sociedad General del Perú' in elaborate script at the top centre, flanked by two oval vignettes: a standing allegorical female figure with a child at left, and a caduceus-and-cornucopia motif at right, both printed in black. The central text panel, set over a large orange guilloche underprint bearing the numeral '20', states the promise to pay 'Veinte Soles al portador' with the equivalence 'ó sea Veinte y Cinco Pesos', dated Lima, 30 de Junio 1864. Serial numbers '5250' appear at upper and lower left, with the denomination numeral '20' repeated in black oval cartouches at both lower corners, and three manuscript signature lines for El Tesorero, El Presidente, and El Director General. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | No second image provided; the reverse description cannot be established from catalog sources with certainty. |
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| Comments |
La Providencia was one of several Peruvian private banks that briefly issued fiduciary currency in the early 1860s before tighter state banking controls curtailed the practice. This denomination — expressed as a dual valuation bridging soles and pesos — reflects the transitional monetary arithmetic of 1864, when Peru was still working through the practical consequences of the 1863 decimal reform that replaced the peso with the sol at a rate of 5 soles to 4 pesos.
Printing in Lima rather than abroad was unusual for private Peruvian bank issues of this period, most of which were contracted to European firms. That domestic production likely contributed to the vulnerability of these notes to forgery, a persistent complaint among Lima merchants in contemporary press accounts.