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50 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1894 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Bolivianos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in red-orange with black intaglio, dominated by a large central vignette of a bald eagle with wings spread, perched atop a Bolivian coat of arms or shield with an olive branch, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The composition is framed by elaborate guilloche rosettes arranged symmetrically across the entire field, with denomination numeral '50' appearing in large print at both left and right. The bank name appears in a central banner at the top. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO POTOSÍ 50 50 |
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| Comments |
Banco Potosí was one of several Bolivian provincial banks authorized to issue currency under the 1890 banking law, which briefly allowed private commercial banks to circulate their own notes — an arrangement that lasted less than a decade before the state moved to centralize issue. The bank operated out of Potosí, historically the most important mining city in the hemisphere, though by the 1890s its silver output was well past its colonial peak and tin was beginning to dominate the regional economy.
ABNC printed the full series at their New York facility, a common arrangement for South American bank clients who lacked domestic security printing infrastructure. The 1890s ABNC contracts with Bolivian provincial banks are relatively well documented in the company's surviving archive at the American Antiquarian Society.