Catalog
50 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Comercial (later Banco Comercial de Maracaibo) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1880 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is executed in fine intaglio engraving and displays the bank title "BANCO COMERCIAL" in bold lettering across the top, flanked by the denomination numeral "50" in ornate counters at each corner. A central vignette presents a steam-and-sail vessel at sea, while a female allegorical figure with tropical flora occupies the lower-left vignette. The note bears the inscriptions "SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA", "CAPITAL Bs. 5,200,000", the place of issue "Caracas", and the promise-to-pay legend "VALE POR CINCUENTA BOLÍVARES", all set against a fine guilloche underprint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO COMERCIAL SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA CAPITAL Bs. 5,200,000 Caracas VALE POR CINCUENTA BOLÍVARES que se pagarán al portador en Caracas á su presentación Por el Banco Comercial El Gerente 50 |
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| Comments |
The Banco Comercial was one of several regional Venezuelan banks operating under the 1873 banking law, which granted note-issuing privileges to private institutions — a privilege the central government would spend the next several decades trying to claw back. Maracaibo's commercial banking scene in this period was driven almost entirely by the cattle and coffee trades moving through Lake Maracaibo, and denominations like this 50 Bolívares note would have circulated among merchants rather than ordinary working people.
ABNC's involvement here is routine for the period — Venezuelan regional banks consistently contracted New York engravers throughout the latter nineteenth century, finding domestic printing options insufficient for security work. The "Banco Comercial de Maracaibo" name change came later; notes from 1880 predate the formal addition of the city name to the institution's title.