Catalog
40 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Maracaibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1897 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Green and black intaglio-printed note with the bank title BANCO DE MARACAIBO in large letters across the upper portion, flanked by the denomination numeral 40 in each corner. At left, a vignette of a seated male figure in period dress; at centre, an oval vignette of a classical female figure seated among architectural columns; at right, the Venezuelan coat of arms. A panel at lower centre bears the alphanumeric designator B40, with the text VALE CUARENTA BOLIVARES flanking the central vignette, and COMPAÑIA ANONIMA in an arc above the central scene. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE MARACAIBO CAPITAL B.S. 1.250.000 COMPAÑIA ANONIMA VALE CUARENTA BOLIVARES se pagarán al portador a su presentación Maracaibo GEREnte PRESIDENTE DE LA ASAMBLEA DE ACCIONISTAS American Bank Note Co. New York B40 CUARENTA |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Maracaibo was a regional private bank operating out of Venezuela's most commercially active port city, and its notes circulated primarily within Zulia state rather than nationally. American Bank Note Company in New York supplied most of Venezuela's private banking paper during this period — the logistical reality of nineteenth-century Latin American finance, where local printing infrastructure simply couldn't meet the security requirements banks and their clients demanded.
The 40-bolívar denomination is an odd unit, almost certainly calibrated to a specific commercial or exchange need rather than fitting any standard monetary series. Worth investigating whether companion denominations in the S206 sequence follow a similarly irregular pattern.