Catalog
5 Pesos
| Issuer | El Banco Internacional de Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900-1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper with an intricate guilloche border framing the entire note. At centre-left, a circular vignette contains the bank's seal surrounded by crossed flags including the Guatemalan and American flags, with sailing ships in the background. The denomination numeral '5' appears at upper right within an ornate cartouche, and the issuer's name 'El Banco Internacional de Guatemala' is rendered in large script lettering across the upper portion, with the text 'CINCO PESOS' in bold letterpress below and the date and place of issue at lower centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE GUATEMALA Nº Serie pagará al portador en moneda efectiva CINCO PESOS GUATEMALA Directores de turno Gerente BANCO INTERNACIONAL GUATEMALA |
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| Comments |
El Banco Internacional de Guatemala was one of several private banks authorized to issue currency under Guatemala's late-nineteenth-century banking law, a system that allowed multiple institutions to circulate their own notes simultaneously — a source of chronic public confusion and periodic financial instability. Waterlow & Sons handled a substantial share of Latin American private bank printing during this period, and their Guatemala work was no exception.
The series ran across nearly two decades, which means date examination matters. Notes from the later years of issue, toward 1916, were circulating against the backdrop of wartime commodity disruptions that hit coffee-dependent Guatemala hard.