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400 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Maracaibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1917 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | The upper field carries the bank title BANCO DE MARACAIBO / COMPAÑIA ANONIMA in arched letterpress, with the place name Maracaibo below. A large allegorical standing female figure in classical drapery occupies the left margin, while a circular portrait vignette of a young woman sits at centre within interlocking guilloche lathe-work; large numeral counters reading 400 appear at lower left and lower right, with the Venezuelan coat of arms in an oval at lower left. The denomination legend VALE CUATROCIENTOS BOLIVARES and the series designation SERIE F are printed in the lower register. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, presenting a plain cream-coloured cotton paper surface across which an elaborate guilloche rosette occupies the centre, extending into symmetrical lathe-work scrollwork toward each corner; the entire design is rendered without ink, appearing as a blind-emboss or watermark effect inherent to the paper. |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Maracaibo was one of the few regional Venezuelan banks to survive into the twentieth century with note-issuing privileges intact, operating out of Zulia state under concessions that the central government repeatedly threatened but never fully revoked before the bank's eventual absorption into the national system. The 400 bolívares denomination is an unusual face value — not part of the tidy progression common to most Latin American series of the period — and suggests either a specific commercial demand in the Maracaibo trading economy or a deliberate gap-filling issue tied to oil concession payments beginning to move through the region.
P#S222 is scarce in any condition. The series had limited print runs and the regional economy it served was disrupted significantly after 1917.