5 Quetzales Banco Central de Guatemala, 1st. print

The Banco Central de Guatemala was established in 1926 under reforms pushed through with direct input from Edwin Kemmerer, the American monetary adviser who reshaped central banking across several Latin American republics during the 1920s. This note belongs to the bank's inaugural series — the first issues under a unified central authority, replacing the fragmented system of private commercial bank notes that had circulated beforehand.

De La Rue's involvement was typical for new Latin American central banks of the period seeking credibility through association with established European security printers. The series ran across a notably long window for a first issue, suggesting slow drawdown rather than rapid replacement.