Catalog
4 Soles
| Issuer | Monte de Piedad de Lima |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green and black note with a central allegorical vignette of a seated female figure surrounded by agricultural produce, flanked on the left by a portrait vignette of a woman holding a child. The denomination numeral '4' appears in the upper right within an ornate panel, and the Peruvian national arms are engraved at the lower right. A manuscript-style text block in the centre reads 'Cuatro Soles' in bold letterpress, above a hand-dated promise-to-pay legend, with a red serial number printed above. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL MONTE DE PIEDAD DE LIMA CUATRO SOLES CUATRO 4 |
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| Comments |
Monte de Piedad de Lima was a pawnbroking and charitable lending institution, not a central bank — its authority to issue paper currency was a pragmatic concession by Peruvian authorities during the severe monetary disruptions of the 1870s and early 1880s, a period bracketed by the War of the Pacific. Notes from quasi-private and charitable issuers like this one circulated alongside, and often in competition with, state-backed paper, and public confidence in them varied sharply by region.
The American Bank Note Company engraved and printed for dozens of Latin American clients simultaneously during this period, and the 4 Soles denomination is an unusual face value — not the round figures that dominate most series, which suggests it was calibrated to a specific transactional need within the Monte's lending operations.