Catalog
500 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Comercial (later Banco Comercial de Maracaibo) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1880 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in dark green and black on a light background. At centre, a large ornate cartouche displays the denomination 'B/500' in bold serif lettering, flanked by the bank title 'Banco Comercial' in elaborate gothic script above. To the left, a vignette depicts a harbour scene with figures, barrels, and a sailing vessel, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. Corner ovals and a continuous guilloche border frame the entire design, with the denomination '500' repeated in each corner. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO COMERCIAL QUIENTOS BOLIVARES B/500 SOCIEDAD ANONIMA CARACAS CAPITAL B/3.200.000. VALE POR QUINIENTOS BOLIVARES que se pagarán al portador en Caracas á la presentacion Por el Banco Comercial |
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| Comments |
The Banco Comercial was a regional Venezuelan institution operating out of Maracaibo, the commercial capital of Zulia state and the country's dominant oil and cattle export hub long before petroleum transformed the region's economy. In 1880, Venezuelan banking was fragmented — Caracas-based national institutions had limited reach into western provinces, and Maracaibo's merchant class relied heavily on private banks like this one to finance trade across Lake Maracaibo and into Colombia.
The American Bank Note Company contract reflects a pattern common among Latin American private banks of the period: domestic printing infrastructure simply didn't exist at a quality level that discouraged forgery, so engraving work went to New York regardless of the issuer's size or prestige. The bank later reorganized as the Banco Comercial de Maracaibo, which gives surviving notes from this earlier phase their documentary interest.