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50 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco de Maracaibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1882 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Bolívares |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black and green on white paper, with the bold heading BANCO DE MARACAIBO across the top under the words CAPITAL and the bank's capital figure. A central intaglio vignette presents a seated female allegorical figure with a chest and produce, flanked by two green guilloche ovals each bearing the numeral 50. To the left margin stands an engraved figure of a laborer, while the Venezuelan coat of arms occupies the lower right. The legend VALE CINCUENTA BOLIVARES is displayed in two lines across the center, with a B50 panel beneath the central vignette and the diagonal overprint COMPAÑIA ANONIMA across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE MARACAIBO CAPITAL COMPAÑIA ANONIMA VALE CINCUENTA BOLIVARES B50 CINCUENTA Maracaibo American Bank Note Co. New York GERENTE PRESIDENTE DE LA ASAMBLEA DE ACCIADOS |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Maracaibo was a regional commercial bank operating out of Venezuela's principal oil-free export hub — in 1882, Maracaibo's economy ran on cattle, coffee, and contraband, not petroleum. Regional banks in Venezuela during this period issued their own notes under concession from the national government, a system that produced a genuinely fragmented currency supply before the Banco Central de Venezuela consolidated matters in the twentieth century.
American Bank Note Company's work for minor Venezuelan issuers in this period is well documented. This is a scarce survivor — Maracaibo's banking sector collapsed repeatedly in the late nineteenth century, and paper from failed institutions rarely made it out of the country intact.