Catalog
4 Pesos Tesoro Nacional - Blue type
| Issuer | Tesoro Nacional (National Treasury) of Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865 |
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| Value | 4 Pesos |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in blue, the note is framed by an ornate guilloche border with shell motifs at the corners and the vertical inscription TESORO NACIONAL along the left margin. An oval vignette at upper center contains the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Paraguay, flanked to the left by a vignette of oxen with a plow; the denomination 4 PESOS is repeated in typeset figures at the upper portion on either side of the central vignette. The main body carries the promise-to-pay legend in bold letterpress, with two manuscript signatures and a handwritten serial number at the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | La Ley perseguirá á los falsificadores y sus cómplices. 4 PESOS REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY El Tesoro Nacional pagará al portador la cantidad de CUATRO PESOS valor recibido. (Translation: The law will prosecute the counterfeiters and their accomplices. 4 Pesos Republic of Paraguay The National Treasury will pay to the bearer the amount of Four Pesos, received value.) |
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| Comments |
Issued during the War of the Triple Alliance — the catastrophic conflict that ultimately killed an estimated 60–70% of Paraguay's adult male population — this note was produced entirely within Asunción under conditions of near-total blockade. Paraguay had no access to foreign printers, no viable trade routes, and rapidly depleting resources. The Tesoro Nacional printed its own currency out of necessity, not choice.
The watermark is the one concession to security on an otherwise primitively produced note. Domestically printed wartime Paraguayan issues from this period are notoriously crude by contemporary standards, and the paper quality reflects wartime scarcity directly.