Catalog
50 Centavos de Quetzal
| Issuer | Banco de Guatemala |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959-1961 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 156 x 67 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse, rendered in dark olive-green intaglio, is dominated by a central vignette of indigenous Guatemalan figures — a man and woman in traditional dress, the woman carrying a large water vessel — captioned TRAJE DE CHICHICASTENANGO. The denomination 1/2 appears in ornate guilloche cartouches at the left and right, as well as in the four corners. The bank name BANCO DE GUATEMALA is inscribed across the top, and the legend CINCUENTA CENTAVOS DE QUETZAL runs along the bottom margin. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Quetzal replaced the Peso in 1925 following Guatemala's monetary reform under the Orellana government, but the fractional denomination — the Centavo de Quetzal — had an awkward commercial life. By the late 1950s, small-denomination paper was already being squeezed out by coin circulation, and these notes saw relatively brief issue before the series was discontinued.
ABNC held long-standing contracts with Guatemalan authorities through much of the mid-twentieth century, and the plate work on this series reflects their standard intaglio production of the period — competent, consistent, and largely indistinguishable from dozens of other Latin American commissions coming out of their Broad Street facilities at the time.