20 Quetzales

The 20 Quetzal denomination has been a persistent fixture in Guatemala's currency series since the mid-twentieth century, and by 2003 the Banco de Guatemala had settled into a long-running contract with Oberthur Fiduciaire — a relationship that produced consistent if unspectacular output across multiple denominations. Oberthur's Chantepie facility handled the bulk of Guatemalan production during this period, a fact sometimes obscured by the "Fiduciaire" branding shift the French firm underwent in the late 1990s.

The security specification here is modest for its era — watermark and thread only, without the foil elements or color-shifting ink appearing on higher-value contemporaries. This was a deliberate cost-tiered decision; the 20 Quetzal note circulated heavily in everyday retail transactions and required frequent replacement rather than expensive feature upgrades.