Catalog
5 Pesos El Banco de Durango
| Issuer | El Banco de Durango |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black letterpress on yellow and brown underprint with red serial numbers. To the left, a large allegorical vignette presents a seated female figure holding a plow and a caduceus, flanked by a beehive, a sheaf of wheat, and a sickle — emblematic of agriculture and commerce. Upper right carries a female bust in tiara above the national coat of arms of Mexico. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown with green seals, the reverse is centrally occupied by the national coat of arms of Mexico, rendered in an engraved style with the characteristic eagle perched on a cactus devouring a serpent, encircled by the issuing bank's name. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
El Banco de Durango was one of the regional banks operating under the 1897 Ley General de Instituciones de Crédito, which gave state-chartered banks the right to issue currency alongside the larger nacional institutions. By 1914, that system had effectively collapsed — the Revolution had fragmented monetary authority, and regional bank notes were being refused, hoarded, or counterfeited across the country. A 1914-dated Durango issue was circulating in a state that had seen significant Villista activity, which created practical problems for any paper currency not backed by force of arms.
Bouligny & Schmidt were among the more active commercial printers supplying Mexican banking clients in the Porfirian period. Their involvement here is a reminder that Mexico's pre-revolutionary banking notes were domestically produced, not sent abroad to Bradbury Wilkinson or American Bank Note as the larger federal issues often were.