50 Centavos Banco de Occidente en Quezaltenango

The Banco de Occidente en Quezaltenango was one of several regional private banks chartered in Guatemala during the liberal reform period of the late nineteenth century, competing directly with the Guatemala City-based institutions for commercial dominance in the western highlands. Quezaltenango was Guatemala's second city and a significant center of coffee export trade, which drove demand for regional credit instruments independent of the capital.

Waterlow & Sons printed the bulk of Guatemala's private bank paper during this era. The 50 centavos denomination was the workhorse of small commercial transactions in provincial markets, and these notes circulated hard.