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| Issuer | El Banco de Londres Mexico y Sud America |
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| Year | 1871 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by the bank title 'EL BANCO DE LONDRES MEXICO Y SUD AMERICA' in a bold letterpress legend across the upper register, flanked by large numeral 'V' corner devices and an intricate guilloche border. A small oval vignette at the left centre bears a classical female portrait in engraved style. The body of the note carries manuscript-style text reading 'Pagará a la vista al portador CINCO SOLES en efectivo, LIMA' above the bilingual English legend 'FOR THE LONDON BANK OF MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA, LIMITED', with a handwritten serial number, date, and the Gerente's signature below. |
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| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO DE LONDRES MEXICO Y SUD AMERICA Pagará a la vista al portador CINCO SOLES en efectivo LIMA FOR THE LONDON BANK OF MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA, LIMITED. Gerente |
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| Comments |
El Banco de Londres, México y Sud América was a British-chartered bank operating across multiple Latin American countries simultaneously, issuing locally denominated notes in each jurisdiction. The Peruvian branch — operating out of Lima — issued in soles, the currency Peru had adopted in 1863 to replace the old peso system. This note predates the catastrophic monetary disruption of the War of the Pacific by nearly a decade; by 1879, the bank's Peruvian operations would be severely compromised, and most of its earlier note issues were redeemed or destroyed in the chaos that followed.
Pick 283 is genuinely scarce in any condition, a direct consequence of that wartime disruption rather than limited original issue.