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500 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Central de Bolivia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A vignette of the La Paz cityscape is positioned at the left, with a portrait of Simón Bolívar at the right, both set within elaborate guilloche borders. The issuer's name arches across the top margin, with the face value inscription placed below the central vignette area. A reference to the Law of 20 July 1928 appears within the text, alongside the payment obligation clause stipulating settlement in gold or gold bonds. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The Bolivian national arms occupy the centre within an intricate guilloche framework, with large numeral "500" counters repeated at each corner and flanking both sides. The issuer's name is inscribed in a curved banner across the top, while the denomination is rendered in both Spanish and an equivalent value in bolívares along the lower margin. The printer's imprint of Waterlow & Sons Ltd., Londres, appears at the bottom edge. |
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| Comments |
The 1928 Bolivian issue came on the heels of the Banco Central de Bolivia's founding in 1928 itself — this note belongs to the institution's inaugural series, authorized under the banking reform law that consolidated and replaced the older private commercial bank issues that had circulated under various conditions since the 1890s. Waterlow & Sons handled the printing, as they did for a substantial portion of Latin American central bank launches during the interwar period.
At the 500 Bolivianos denomination, circulation would have been limited to commercial and governmental transactions — well above everyday purchasing power for most Bolivians at the time. High-denomination survivors from first-series issues tend to be genuinely scarce rather than artificially so.