50 Centavos Aguan Navigation & Improvement Company

Features

Issuer	Honduras
Issuing bank	Aguan Navigation and Improvement Company
Period	Republic (1862-date)
Type	Local banknotes
Year	1886
Value	50 Centavos (0.50)
Currency	Second Peso (decimalized, 1879-1931)
Composition	Paper
Size	108 × 61 mm
Shape	Rectangular
Technique	Lithography
Issued	25 June 1886
Demonetized	Yes
Number	N# 534687
References	P# S101 Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).

View sale offers

Series: Aguan Navigation & Improvement Company

Obverse

Grey printing on light pink underprint.
General Luis Bográn at center, young woman on left, red round seal of the company on lower left.
Issuer name on top. Face value in numbers and letters on both top corners; in letters on center, divided by portrait; in numbers on right edge.
Red serial #s 5 digits, with 1 letter prefix. 2 signatures with titles below, on lower left and right. Printer name on bottom.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
50
CINCUENTA
THE
AGUAN NAVIGATION and IMPROVEMENT
COMPANY
PAGARÁ Á J.G. ORD
Ó AL PORTADOR
CINCUENTA CENTAVOS
á la vista
en su oficina de
Trujillo,
Honduras
Nº E34717
TESORERO PRESIDENTE
THE HOMER LEE BANK NOTE CO.N.Y.
BILLETE DE LA TESORERÍA POR CINCUENTA CENTAVOS

Translation:
The Aguan Navigation and Improvement Company will pay to J. G. Ord or to bearer fifty Cents at sight, on its office from Trujillo, Honduras.
Treasurer, President
Treasury note for fifty Cents.

Reverse

Green printing on light brown underprint.
No images. Company name in circle at center, Countries names within surrounding face value in numbers and letters at center. Also face value in letters on left and right edges. Issuing date on bottom, printer name below.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
EMISIÓN AUTORIZADA
AGUAN NAVIGATION AND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY
UNITED STATES
50
CENTAVOS
REPÚBLICA DE HONDURAS
CINCUENTA
Este billete será aceptado por su
valor señalado en pago de toda
deuda debida al AGUAN NAV-
IGATION & IMPROVEMENT CO
inclusivos el pago de pasa-
jes y fletes por sus vapores y
portazgos en el TRUJILLO & AGUAN
CANAL y es pagadero en moneda
de plata a su presentación en la
oficina de la Compañía en Trujillo.
LA FALSIFICACIÓN SERÁ CRÍMEN.
CENTAVOS
THE HOMER LEE BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK
EL 25 DE JUNIO DE 1886.

Translation:
Authorized issue on June 25th., 1886.
Aguan Navigation and Improvement Company. United states, Honduras.
This note will be accepted for its stated value in payment of any debt owed to the Aguan Navigation and Improvement Co., including the payment of passenger fares and freight charges on its steamships and tolls in the Trujillo & Aguan Canal, and is payable in silver coin upon presentation at the company’s office in Trujillo. Counterfeiting will be a crime.

Printer

Homer Lee Bank Note Company, New York City, United States (1881-1891)

Comments

NOTE: Text in note reads: “ … pagará a J.G.Ord o al portador …” We were not able to decipher the meaning of the phrase. Any information about will be welcome.

This 50 centavos note was the smallest denomination issued by the Aguan Navigation & Improvement Company, a U.S.-based enterprise founded in 1885 to develop infrastructure in Trujillo, Honduras. The company operated under a government concession and printed its notes in New York. The design features General Luis Bográn, then President of Honduras, whose portrait appeared while still in office—a rare occurrence in Latin American numismatics. Despite initial optimism, the company faced financial difficulties and ceased operations within two years. The note reflects the experimental nature of 19th-century capitalism in Honduras.

Manage my collection

Please sign in or create an account to manage your collection.

Date					VG	F	VF	XF	AU	UNC
Undetermined
1886-Jun-25

Get this banknote

No member from this site currently wants to exchange it.

Numista Rarity index: 97 Search tips

This index is based on the data of Numista members collections. It ranges from 0 to 100, 0 meaning a very common coin or banknote and 100 meaning a rare coin or banknote among Numista members.

Discuss or ask a question