Date of Banknote issue:
02/09/2024
Project Team:
BANCO DE GUATEMALA AND G+D
Limited in Circulation:
25 MILLION BANKNOTES (1.7% OF THE TOTAL BANKNOTES IN CIRCULATION)
Banknote Description
BANCO DE GUATEMALA HAS ISSUED A COMMEMORATIVE Q1.00 BANKNOTE TO CELEBRATE A CENTURY OF THE QUETZAL AS THE NATIONAL CURRENCY. THIS BANKNOTE EMBODIES THE HISTORY AND IDENTITY OF OUR COUNTRY, SERVING AS A SYMBOL OF STRENGTH AND ECONOMIC STABILITY. HOLDING THIS NOTE, WE FEEL THE LEGACY OF GENERATIONS WHO HAVE SHAPED OUR NATION, REMINDING US OF GUATEMALA’S FREEDOM, RESILIENCE, AND GREATNESS. THE BANKNOTE PRESERVES ITS TRADITIONAL ESSENCE WHILE INCORPORATING GRAPHIC ELEMENTS THAT NARRATE THE COUNTRY’S HISTORY, HIGHLIGHTING THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL VALUES THAT DEFINE OUR IDENTITY. IT FEATURES THE NATIONAL BIRD, THE QUETZAL, PERCHED ON AN IONIC COLUMN AS A REPRESENTATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY; A GOLDEN OCTAGON SHOWCASING THE SANTA CATALINA ARCH IN ANTIGUA GUATEMALA AND EL GRAN JAGUAR, AN EMBLEM OF THE MAYAN CITY OF TIKAL, BOTH DECLARED WORLD HERITAGE SITES BY UNESCO. THESE DETAILS HONOR THE COUNTRY’S EVOLUTION AND PROGRESS, AND WITH THE ISSUANCE OF 25 MILLION BANKNOTES, ALL GUATEMALANS FEEL PART OF THIS HISTORIC EVENT. THIS TANGIBLE REMINDER OF OUR UNITY AS A NATION SERVES AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN GENERATIONS, A PIECE OF OUR COLLECTIVE MEMORY THAT INVITES US TO LOOK AT THE PAST WITH GRATITUDE AND THE FUTURE WITH DETERMINATION. THE NOTE ALSO CELEBRATES GENERAL JOSÉ MARÍA ORELLANA, PRESIDENT OF GUATEMALA 1921-1926. UNDER HIS MANDATE, THE FIRST MONETARY REFORM OF THE COUNTRY TOOK PLACE, WITH A FIXED MONETARY UNIT AND A CENTRAL BANKING SYSTEM; IT WAS DURING HIS GOVERNMENT THAT THE QUETZAL MONETARY UNIT WAS CREATED. A CENTURY ACCOMPANYING A NATION!
Innovation and unique aspects
THE COMMEMORATIVE BANKNOTE INCORPORATES A GOLD-COLORED varifeye® PATCH (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS varifeye® ColourChange) WHICH, ON THE OBVERSE, FEATURES THE IMAGE OF THE ARCH OF SANTA CATALINA, LOCATED IN THE CITY OF ANTIGUA GUATEMALA. THIS ELEMENT IS COMPLEMENTED BY A VISIBLE WINDOW ON THE REVERSE. UNDER DIRECT LIGHT, THE PATCH EXHIBITS A GOLDEN SHEEN, WHILE WHEN VIEWED AGAINST THE LIGHT, THE WINDOW IS TRANSLUCENT AND TAKES ON A BLUE COLORATION. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN THE BANKNOTE IS TILTED, A VISUAL CHANGE EFFECT BETWEEN THE YEARS 1924 AND 2024 BECOMES EVIDENT. LIKEWISE, THE BANKNOTE FEATURES A SECURITY BACKGROUND ON BOTH THE OBVERSE AND THE REVERSE, INCORPORATING GRADUAL VARIATIONS OF GREEN AND YELLOW TONES. THIS BACKGROUND IS COMPOSED OF MULTIDIRECTIONAL LINES THAT GENERATE GEOMETRIC DESIGNS AND PRODUCE AN ANTI-COPY EFFECT, INTENDED TO HINDER UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION. UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, THE OBVERSE OF THE BANKNOTE REVEALS THE IMAGE OF THE NATIONAL BIRD IN FLIGHT, THE QUETZAL, REPRODUCED ON THREE OCCASIONS IN INTENSE SHADES OF RED AND GREEN, ARRANGED AROUND THE CENTRAL AREA OF THE BANKNOTE.
Overall integration of Features
THE FIRST COMMEMORATIVE ONE QUETZAL BANKNOTE FEATURES GREEN AS ITS DOMINANT COLOR. ON THE OBVERSE APPEARS GENERAL JOSÉ MARÍA ORELLANA, BASED ON A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BY ALBERTO VALDEAVELLANO IN 1925. BEHIND HIS EFFIGY IS TEMPLE I OF TIKAL, PETÉN, KNOWN AS THE TEMPLE OF THE GREAT JAGUAR DUE TO THE CARVED FIGURE ON THE LINTEL OF THE MAIN DOORWAY. THIS FUNERARY MONUMENT WAS DEDICATED TO KING HASAW KA’AN K’AWIL, ALSO KNOWN AS RULER A. STANDING 44.6 METERS HIGH, CONSTRUCTED OF LIMESTONE AND CROWNED WITH A MONUMENTAL ROOF COMB, TEMPLE I IS TODAY THE PRINCIPAL EMBLEM OF THE MAYA CITY OF TIKAL, DECLARED A UNESCO WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE SITE IN 1979 AND A UNIVERSAL MONUMENT IN 1986. ITS PRESENCE ON THE BANKNOTE CLEARLY ALLUDES TO MAYA ROOTS AND THEIR CULTURAL LEGACY. ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BANKNOTE, THE QUETZAL BIRD IS DEPICTED FIRMLY PERCHED ON AN IONIC COLUMN, A SYMBOL OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND THE STRENGTH OF THE NATIONAL CURRENCY. ALSO NOTEWORTHY IS A METALLIC GOLD-COLORED OCTAGON (varifeye® PATCH), LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE BIRD, WHICH CONTAINS THE IMAGE OF THE ARCH OF SANTA CATALINA, DECLARED A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN 1974. THIS ARCH ORIGINALLY FUNCTIONED AS A BRIDGE CONNECTING TWO WINGS OF THE CONVENT OF SANTA CATALINA VIRGIN AND MARTYR. BENEATH THE ARCH APPEARS THE DATE 1924, THE YEAR IN WHICH THE QUETZAL MONETARY UNIT WAS CREATED. THE REVERSE DEPICTS THE BANCO DE GUATEMALA BUILDING, TAKEN FROM A PHOTOGRAPH THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE ABSTRACT DESIGNS OF THE MURAL BY ROBERTO GONZÁLEZ GOYRI, CAST INTO THE WESTERN ELEVATION AND INSPIRED BY MAYA STELAE. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OBVERSE AND REVERSE IS LINKED TO ORELLANA’S ROLE IN THE FIRST MONETARY REFORM, WHICH GAVE RISE TO THE QUETZAL IN 1924 AND TO THE CENTRAL BANK IN 1926.
Highlights an event
THE Q1.00 COMMEMORATIVE BANKNOTE WAS ISSUED TO CELEBRATE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF THE QUETZAL AS GUATEMALA’S NATIONAL CURRENCY. WITH THIS PIECE, THE BANCO DE GUATEMALA PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE CREATION OF THE MONETARY UNIT ESTABLISHED IN 1924 AND TO ITS HISTORICAL ROLE IN THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THIS ISSUANCE IS ESPECIALLY SIGNIFICANT, AS THE ONE QUETZAL DENOMINATION HAD NOT BEEN PRODUCED SINCE 2008, WHEN IT WAS MANUFACTURED ON A POLYMER SUBSTRATE; THEREFORE, ITS REAPPEARANCE SYMBOLIZES THE CONTINUITY AND ENDURING RELEVANCE OF THE NATIONAL CURRENCY. BEYOND ITS FACE VALUE, THE BANKNOTE COMMEMORATES GUATEMALAN IDENTITY, HISTORY, AND CULTURE, REFLECTING IN ITS DESIGN THE SYMBOLS THAT REPRESENT THE NATION’S ROOTS, LEGACY, AND STABILITY.
Guatamala Currency News Article
Guatamala Commemorating History And Comm. Banknote
