| Obverse description |
Black intaglio print on green and yellow underprint, with red serial numbers and red seal. At left, a vignette of Mercury reclining on a fish upon a beach, holding a caduceus in his right hand, with a tugboat, sailing ship, and lighthouse visible in the background. At right, a seated allegorical figure of Liberty holds a shield emblazoned with '50', a cherub at her side grasping a sword by the blade, and a bald eagle resting at her feet. |
| Reverse description |
Printed in green with red seals, the reverse is dominated by a central architectural guilloche arch enclosing the large numeral '50', flanked symmetrically by two allegorical female busts set within ornate circular frames, each accompanied by a phoenix-like bird. Intricate lathe-work and geometric guilloche patterns fill the remaining field, with the denomination 'CINCUENTA' lettered below the central vignette and 'BANCO DE DURANGO' arched across the top. The imprint of the American Bank Note Company, New York, appears in small text at the lower margin. |
El Banco de Durango was one of the regional banks authorized under Mexico's 1897 Ley General de Instituciones de Crédito, which formalized a system of state-chartered banks with note-issuing privileges — though the bank itself began operating before that legislation, under earlier concession arrangements. The American Bank Note Company in New York produced currency for dozens of Latin American institutions during this period, and the Durango plates show the same high-intaglio quality the firm applied across its commercial banking contracts.
The date range spans the Porfiriato's final years through the outbreak of the Revolution, meaning notes from this series were in circulation when Durango became a major theater of Villista and Maderista activity after 1910. By 1914, the regional banking system was effectively collapsing under wartime monetary chaos.