Catalog
200 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Maracaibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Green and orange note with a central vignette of two allegorical female figures flanking a seated Mercury or Commerce figure at centre, set against a finely engraved guilloche underprint. The denomination '200' appears in each lower corner, with the bank title 'BANCO DE MARACAIBO' in bold letterpress across the top. The legend 'DOSCIENTOS BOLIVARES' is inscribed along the lower centre, with the text 'PAGADERO EN LAS OFICINAS DEL BANCO' to the left and manuscript signatures with printed date '1915' along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 200 200 |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Maracaibo was a regionally chartered institution based in Venezuela's oil-adjacent northwest, and by 1915 it was one of very few provincial banks still authorized to issue its own notes — most competitors had been absorbed or suppressed following the monetary centralization drives of the late nineteenth century. A 200 bolívares denomination from a regional issuer is not a routine commercial instrument; it implies substantial mercantile or petroleum-adjacent transactions, not everyday retail use.
ABNC produced this series during a period when Venezuelan state banking infrastructure was still fragile enough to leave room for private provincial circulation. Examples showing genuine circulation wear are uncommon — high-denomination regional notes of this period were more often held as value stores than passed hand to hand.