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20 Sucres Banco Comercial y Agrícola
| Issuer | Banco Comercial y Agrícola |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907-1923 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Sucre (1884-2000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue; an intaglio vignette to the right portrays a colonial street scene in Guayaquil with horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians, while the left half features an ornate guilloche medallion bearing the bank name, framed by an elaborate floral lathe-work border with corner numeral counters. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO COMERCIAL Y AGRICOLA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK. (Translation: Commercial and Agricultural Bank American Bank Note Company, New York.) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Comercial y Agrícola was the most politically entangled private bank in Ecuadorian history — its directors effectively controlled national fiscal policy for decades, a period historians of the region call the "bancocracia." The bank held the concession to issue currency backed by cacao export revenues, and when global cacao prices collapsed in the early 1920s, its notes became increasingly difficult to redeem at face value.
The ABNC plates for this series were shared across multiple denominations with only the value altered, which occasionally produced mismatched printings caught only at the assembly stage. The bank was forcibly liquidated in 1925 following the Juliana Revolution, which specifically targeted its political influence. Outstanding notes were absorbed into the newly created Banco Central del Ecuador at a discount.