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2½ Centavos
| Issuer | Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co. / Empresa de Tranvías Luz y Fuerza |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Dark brown on light ground. The issuer's name 'Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co.' is inscribed across the top within an ornate border of guilloche work and rosette corner ornaments. A central text panel in cursive script gives the promise-to-pay legend, flanked on each side by oval value counters bearing the numeral '2½'. The denomination 'Dos y Medio Centavos' is set in bold letterpress below, above the legal tender inscription 'Moneda Nacional Curso Legal', with a serial number and suffix letter printed in red and a manuscript signature to the lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ASUNCIÓN TRAMWAY LIGHT & POWER Co. La Empresa de Tranvías Luz y Fuerza pagará al portador y a la vista DOS Y MEDIO CENTAVOS MONEDA NACIONAL CURSO LEGAL 2½ |
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| Comments |
A private transport company issuing its own fractional currency is unusual anywhere; in Paraguay in 1913, it was a symptom of chronic small-change shortages that plagued the country well into the twentieth century. The Asunción Tramway Light & Power Co. — a foreign-capitalized utility operating trams and electric supply in the capital — printed these low-denomination notes through the Compañía Sud Américaine de Billetes de Banco in Buenos Aires, the same Argentine security printer that handled work for several South American governments and quasi-official entities of the period.
The denomination itself, 2½ centavos, signals a fare-related origin — likely issued to facilitate exact change on tram routes rather than for general commercial use.