BANKNOTES OF GUATEMALA
These notes are available for your viewing pleasure!
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
The history of Guatemalan Quetzal
The Guatemalan quetzal was first Introduced as the national currency in 1925, it replaced the Guatemalan peso at a rate of sixty pesos to one quetzal. The quetzal is named after the national bird of Guatemala, the Quetzal bird or Resplendent Quetzal. In ancient Mayan times, the Quetzal birdís tail feathers were used as currency.
In 1945 it was decided that the issue of banknotes would only be allowed by the state and during the same year The Banco de Guatemala was formed. In 1948 the Banco de Guatemala issued its first banknotes and since it has been the sole banknote issuer in the country until this day.
Up until 1979 the value of the quetzal was pegged equal to the US dollar. Both US dollars and quetzals circulated side by side in the country. After 1979 the value of the quetzal has traded freely against other world currencies.
The Guatemalan quetzal is divided into 100 centavos, and its ISO 4217 code is GTQ. The plural of quetzal is quetzales in Spanish or in anglicized form quetzals.
Current banknotes in circulation come in denominations of 50 centavos, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 quetzals. Coins currently come in 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos and 1 quetzal.
The Banco de Guatemala issued a new 100 quetzales banknote early this year. The new banknotes is similar to the previous design but has a holographic strip added to improve security. The Banco de Guatemala has announced that a new polymer 1 quetzal banknote will be issued in May 2007. It is also planned that in the not to distant future the Banco de Guatemala will issued new high value banknotes in 200, 500 and 1000 quetzal denominations. The main designs of the front and back, as well as the dominating color of the new banknotes will be determined by the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, but as of yet no final decision has been announced.
BACK TO HOMEPAGE
Page created: 20 June 2006
Last Update: 27 April 2007
Maps are provided by Graphic Maps
All maps provided by them bear their copyright information.
All scans shown here are of actual notes from my collection unless otherwise noted.
Images and content unless otherwise noted are copyrighted.
(c) 2006 Will's Online World Paper Money Gallery