5 Sucres

The Banco del Ecuador was one of several private Ecuadorian banks granted note-issuing privileges under the system of free banking that characterized the country through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. That arrangement collapsed decisively in 1927 when the Banco Central del Ecuador was established and private issuance was brought to an end — the long date range on this series reflects exactly that arc, from relatively stable issuance through the prolonged political and monetary turbulence of the 1920s.

ABNC produced the plates in New York. The series ran across nearly three decades without a fundamental redesign, which was not unusual for Ecuadorian private bank issues of this period.