Catalog
50 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Bolivia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is executed in salmon-red intaglio with an elaborate guilloche border of interlocking rosettes and oval lathe-work panels framing the entire note. A central black intaglio vignette presents a reclining allegorical female figure, rendered in fine line engraving, set within an oval cartouche. The bank title 'BANCO NACIONAL DE BOLIVIA' is inscribed in bold lettering across the upper and lower registers, with denomination numeral '50' repeated in panels to the left and right. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL DE BOLIVIA 50 |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de Bolivia was chartered in 1871 with backing from Chilean and Bolivian commercial interests, and by the early 1880s it had become the dominant note-issuing institution in the country. This 1883 issue arrived in the middle of the War of the Pacific — Bolivia had already lost its coastal territory to Chile by this point, and the financial system was under serious strain. That the bank continued issuing high-denomination paper at all reflects how determined Sucre's commercial class was to maintain normalcy.
American Bank Note Company engraved and printed the full series in New York. The 50 Bolivianos was the highest denomination in regular circulation, and surviving examples in any condition are uncommon.