Catalog
50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1862 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream-toned note in letterpress style with ornamental corner flourishes and typeset text throughout. The bank title BANCO DE VENEZUELA is printed in large bold letters across the top, flanked by the denomination numerals 50 on either side. The body carries a handwritten date of 1 de Febrero de 1862, a manuscript series and serial number, and a circular ink stamp, with the text stating the bearer value and interest conditions accruing from 1 de Noviembre de 1861, payable at six months sight in Caracas. |
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| Signature(s) | Pardo y Cº and J. Marcano |
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| Comments |
Banco de Venezuela's 1862 series predates the institution most collectors associate with that name — the 20th-century central bank. This note was issued by an earlier private commercial bank of the same name, operating under a government concession during Venezuela's mid-century banking experiment, before chronic political instability and monetary disorder dismantled most of the country's nascent financial infrastructure within the decade.
Local printing in Caracas at this period was technically limited, and the result shows. The signatures of Pardo y Cº and J. Marcano are manuscript, applied by hand at issuance — routine for the period but now a primary authentication point, as forgeries of Venezuelan private bank issues circulated even contemporaneously.