Catalog
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| Issuer | Compañia de Obras Públicas y Fomento del Perú |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Pink and dark blue note with the issuer's name 'LA COMPAÑIA DE OBRAS PUBLICAS Y FOMENTO DEL PERÚ' across the top in bold letterpress, flanked by 'DIEZ' panels at left and right. A central vignette depicts a standing male figure in military or official dress beside a table or chest, rendered in fine intaglio engraving against a lightly printed underprint background. The text 'á la vista DIEZ SOLES en moneda corriente Lima Julio 4 de 1876' is distributed across the lower portion, with manuscript serial number and two manuscript signatures of the Director and Presidente below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LA COMPAÑIA DE OBRAS PUBLICAS Y FOMENTO DEL PERÚ PAGARÁ DIEZ á la vista DIEZ SOLES en moneda corriente Lima Julio 4 de 1876 DIRECTOR PRESIDENTE |
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| Comments |
The Compañía de Obras Públicas y Fomento del Perú was a private infrastructure concession company, not a bank — yet it issued circulating paper currency in the 1870s under arrangements with the Peruvian government that blurred those lines considerably. The company held concessions for major public works including railway construction, and these notes were tied directly to that financing structure rather than to any conventional banking reserve.
Peru's broader monetary situation in 1876 was deteriorating rapidly, with the country overextended on guano-backed debt. Private quasi-banking paper like this filled gaps left by an increasingly strained official system. The War of the Pacific was still three years away, but the fiscal pressures that would make that war so catastrophic were already visible.