Catalog
5 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Occidental |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pesos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is divided into two distinct vertical panels. The left panel presents a detailed intaglio vignette of the Banco Occidental building in Santa Ana, flanked on the left margin by a standing allegorical female figure; the numeral 5 appears at lower left and the bank title 'EL BANCO OCCIDENTAL' runs across the top. The right panel bears an ornate guilloche underprint in orange with a large central medallion containing the denomination '5 Cinco Pesos ORO', the inscription 'REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR' arching above, and the promise-to-pay text curving around the medallion; signature lines for Gerente and Cajero appear at the bottom with the place and date imprint 'Santa Ana'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a single warm reddish-brown tone and filled with intricate lathe-work guilloche patterns forming elaborate floral and foliate scrollwork across the entire field. A central circular medallion encloses the coat of arms of the Republic of El Salvador surrounded by the legend 'BANCO OCCIDENTAL' and 'REPUBLICA DEL SALVADOR', with the numeral 5 repeated in each corner within ornamental frames. The inscriptions 'CINCO PESOS ORO' appear in rectangular panels at top and bottom, and the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK' is present at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Banco Occidental was one of several Colombian departmental banks chartered under the 1880 banking law that briefly allowed private regional institutions to issue their own currency. The arrangement lasted roughly two decades before the government moved to consolidate note-issuing authority, which makes the entire output of these banks relatively short-lived by design.
ABNC produced notes for dozens of Latin American issuers during this period, often reusing plate elements across clients — worth checking whether the vignette work here appears in other Colombian departmental issues from the same years.