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500 Pesos

Issuer El Banco de Guatemala
Year 1915-1926
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Shape Rectangular
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Obverse lettering EL BANCO DE GUATEMALA
QUINIENTOS PESOS
PAGARA PORTADOR EN MONEDA EFECTIVA
Guatemala
No.
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Reverse lettering EL BANCO DE
GUATEMALA
500
Compañía Internacional de Billetes de Banco, Nueva York
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Comments

El Banco de Guatemala was a private commercial bank that held the concession to issue currency in Guatemala during the Liberal period — a familiar arrangement across Central America at the time, where note-issuing rights were granted rather than state-held. The Compañía Internacional de Billetes de Banco was the Spanish-language identity under which the American Bank Note Company marketed itself to Latin American clients, and the plates it produced for this series reflect that firm's characteristic high-intaglio quality.

The 500 Pesos denomination would have represented a significant sum in daily Guatemalan commerce, making this effectively a clearing instrument between institutions rather than a note seen in ordinary hands. Guatemala's transition to a state central bank — the Banco Central de Guatemala, established in 1926 — marks the close of this series' issue window and the end of private note-issuing concessions in the country.