AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY
Album of 101 banknote specimens and proofs, representing the entire range of the company's production on behalfof banks in Paraguay from 1882 through 1940; bank notesmounted on loose manila office binder sheets, with typedproduction notes.

Most banknotes in exceptional condition, some with minorevidence of staining caused by adhesive bleed through.

By the early twentieth century the American Bank NoteCompany had become the largest producer of bank notes inthe world, producing currency for a large number of countries.When the company sought to organize its records and archives,each country was given a file, and each file ended up in mundane office binders organized alphabetically. Thus Paraguay comprised a small part of the binder "P", a relatively minorbit of real estate on an entire wall of records.

When the American Bank Note Company dispersed itsarchives (a process which began in the 1970s and continuedfor over twenty-five years-Christies' catalogues of the firstof these sales being themselves now scarce and valuablereference works), virtually all of the country binders weresplit up, with collectors vying for examples of notes whichwere, in many cases and as here, to be found nowhere else.The Paraguay album at hand is, to the best of our knowledge, the only country album from the company to remain intact,a happy accident caused by its having been bundled into aplain envelope after its initial purchase and subsequentlyforgotten for many years until rediscovered by chance aspart of a bulk transaction.

In many parts of the world, and in Latin America in particular, bank note companies American and European viedintensely for production contracts. In Paraguay, the AmericanBank Note Company gained inroads atop a wave of pro-American sentiment. Paraguay is likely the only place in theworld where President Rutherford B Hayes is rememberedfondly (or perhaps even at all)-Hayes (pronounced AH-jes)is commemorated in Paraguay by monuments, avenues andplazas as a result of his adjudication of a border dispute inParaguay's favor.

That the result of the initial agreements was felicitouscan readily be seen from the album at hand, and theAmerican Bank Note Company was able to place Paraguayan currency on a solid (and occasionally magnificent)artistic footing. Paraguayan currency in its infancy (in the1850s) had been fairly simple in design, with only occasionalwoodcuts as graphic elements amidst functional and largelyinelegant typography. But, the rapid growth of a moderneconomy necessitated modern (and secure) currency, whichfactors of civic and banking pride augmented-

Paraguay got some of the very best engraving whichthe American Bank Note Company was able to offer-portraits, scenic vignettes, exquisite and exuberant lathework, the most fashionable of typography and design,striking tints and even dramatic rainbow printing. Takenas an ensemble, the result is remarkable. and a graphicreminder of how far standards have fallen.

See particularly:Griffiths, William The Story of the American Bank NoteCompany New York 1959

Pratt Mayans, Miguel Angel and Pusineri Scala,Carlos Alberto Billetes de Paraguay Asuncion 1990

And for general context:
Fernandez, Pedro Analisis de la Historia Bancaria yMonetaria del Paraguay Asuncion 1982/1984

To view a photo album with more images on our Flickr archive, see:
ABNCO Paraguay Album(https://www.flickr.com/photos/coinbooks/albums/72157716233737503)