20 Soles

Peru's 1879 issue falls squarely in the middle of the War of the Pacific, the conflict with Chile and Bolivia that would ultimately devastate the country's finances and force a complete collapse of its monetary system by the early 1880s. Whether notes from this series saw meaningful circulation before Chilean forces occupied Lima in 1881 — and the Banco de Lima effectively ceased operations — is an open question. Many issues from this period were never redeemed.

The American Bank Note Company had a near-monopoly on Peruvian government printing at this time, supplying successive issues as the fiscal situation deteriorated with each year of the war.