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| Issuer | Banco de Escobar, Ossa y Ca. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887 |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company, New York, USA |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central vignette of a harvest or agricultural scene set within an oval frame, flanked on either side by large numeral '5' counters with ornate guilloche underprint. A seated allegorical female figure appears at the lower left, while a corresponding figure occupies the lower right. The bank title 'BANCO DE ESCOBAR OSSY Y Ca.' is inscribed in bold letterpress across the centre, with the denomination 'CINCO PESOS' and the notation 'moneda corriente' below, along with a reference to the 'Superintendencia de la Casa de Moneda'. Serial number panels in red appear on either side of the central inscription. |
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| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE ESCOBAR OSSY Y Ca. Vale al portador a la vista por CINCO PESOS moneda corriente Superintendencia de la Casa de Moneda Santiago de Chile |
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| Comments |
Banco de Escobar, Ossa y Ca. was one of several Chilean private banks authorized under the 1860 Banking Law, which permitted commercial houses to issue their own notes backed by metallic reserves held on deposit with the government. The arrangement was loosely supervised at best, and a number of these banks collapsed or were absorbed well before Chile nationalized its currency system in 1925.
ABNC's involvement was typical for Latin American private banking paper of this period — Santiago banks regularly contracted New York engravers rather than European firms, partly on cost, partly because ABNC had established strong commercial relationships throughout the region by the 1870s. The S253 prefix flags this as a specialty issue in the Pick system, meaning it circulated regionally rather than as a national instrument.