The American Bank Note Company in the United Sates of America was responsible for printing the majority of the paper money used by most of the Latin American countries between 1870 and 1970. For over one hundred years the American Bank Note Company produced some of the most beautiful banknotes ever made, and the quality of its work had earned the trust and respect from the world.

About fifteen years ago, the American Bank Note Company made a very important decision, due to the fact that most of their previous customers hadn’t used their services for more than twenty years. A large number of countries that used to buy banknotes from the American Bank Note Company started producing their own banknotes in locally operated security printing companies. At that point, the American Bank Note Company decided to break down the archives department and sell a large amount of specimen and proof banknotes they had in their possession, through a series of auctions.

The auctions were very successful; the quality of the banknotes offered was truly spectacular, and the only down side was the fact that the archives had been broken apart forever. The archives department had very important records for thousands of different banknotes. These records deserved to be saved as a part of the American Bank Note Company history and the history of so many private banks and government issuing authorities throughout Latin America. The objective of this book is to record all available information on banknotes produced by the American Bank Note Company to all Latin American countries from Argentina through Venezuela.

Of course, as in any other historical research project, not every piece of information was found; but still, taking in consideration the period that this book covers and the number of banknotes listed (almost two thousand different banknotes from twenty different countries) one can say this is a very complete book. This is a reference work; many of the banknotes listed in this book are very rare, and some only had been listed in the past as specimens and proofs. Today these banknotes have complete records with production dates, quantities printed, serial numbers and much more. Over the years one of the aspects of banknote collecting that was always in demand was knowledge. Publishing this book will establish a valuable tool for collectors and historians and I hope you may find it informative and exciting.