1 Quetzal

The Banco de Guatemala was established in 1946 as part of a sweeping monetary reform under President Juan José Arévalo, replacing the Banco Central de Guatemala and introducing a new central banking framework. This series, running from 1948 through 1958, spans one of the more turbulent stretches of mid-century Guatemalan politics — including the 1954 CIA-backed coup that ousted Jacobo Árbenz and installed Carlos Castillo Armas. The notes continued circulating through that transition without modification, which itself says something about how carefully the new regime managed monetary continuity.

ABNC handled Guatemalan printing contracts across multiple series during this period, using intaglio throughout.