Catalog
5 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1894 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue and presents a large central intaglio vignette of a seated classical allegorical female figure, laurel-crowned and holding a branch, set within an arched frame. Flanking the central vignette on both sides are four oval guilloche counters, each bearing the numeral '5', arranged symmetrically and surrounded by intricate lathe-work borders with floral corner ornaments. The bank name 'BANCO POTOSÍ' is inscribed in a straight panel along the lower edge. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO POTOSÍ 5 |
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| Comments |
Banco Potosí was one of several Bolivian departmental banks authorized under the 1890 Ley de Bancos, which granted private institutions the right to issue their own notes — a deliberately decentralized arrangement that produced a patchwork of competing regional currencies throughout the decade. The bank's operations were anchored in the silver-mining economy of Potosí, a city whose output had been in structural decline since the colonial peak but still drove enough regional commerce to sustain a chartered bank of issue.
The American Bank Note Company held the contract, as it did for the majority of Bolivian departmental banks during this period, essentially supplying the country's private note-issuing infrastructure from a single New York address.