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20 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco del Comercio |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900 |
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| Currency | First boliviano (1864-1963) |
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| Obverse description | Left vignette of a crowned allegorical female bust in intaglio; central guilloche rosette bearing the denomination '20 / VEINTE BOLIVIANOS' in letterpress; right vignette of a seated allegorical female figure with book and globe. Pink and grey underprint with issuer title 'EL BANCO DEL COMERCIO' across the top and date 'Oruro, Enero 1° de 1900'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central intaglio vignette of the Bolivian national coat of arms flanked by the numeral '20' on each side, all within elaborate guilloche lacework borders. Inscriptions 'BANCO DEL COMERCIO' and 'VEINTE BOLIVIANOS' appear above the central design in letterpress. |
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| Comments |
Banco del Comercio was one of several Bolivian private banks authorized to issue notes under the 1890 banking law, which briefly opened the door to a decentralized, plural emission system before the state moved to consolidate note-issuing authority in the early twentieth century. The bank operated out of La Paz and was among the casualties of that consolidation — by 1911, the Banco de la Nación Boliviana had effectively ended private bank circulation.
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced the plates, as they did for much of South American private banking paper of this period. The S-prefix Pick reference signals this is a specialized issue, and surviving examples in any grade are genuinely uncommon — Bolivia's private bank notes were actively recalled and destroyed during the transition.