PANAMA. Banco Central de Emision. 10 Balboas, 1941. P-24a. PMG Choice Very Fine 35. Printed by HBNC. Certainly a piece that is missing from the most advanced collections, as 10 Balboa notes from this series rarely trade hands publicly, so this opportunity to own one of these elusive notes should not be passed up as it might be sometime before one of these tightly-held notes is available to collectors again.
Panamá Viejo is depicted at center, surrounded by a green guilloche and yellow/brown underprint. At the time of cataloging, PMGs pop report lists a scant 14 issued examples of this pick number to have been graded by their service.<p>Notes from this issue have garnered the nickname of the "Arias Issue," which takes its name from President Dr. Arnulfo Arias, whom was elected President of Panama in 1940.
In 1941, Arias was ousted as President in a coup by the police, which would indirectly affect the rarity of this note being offered here today. Arias reformed the banking system as President, allowing official and private banks to issue currency, although the Banco Central Emision de la Republica de Panama was the only bank to do so. The notes were issued on October 2, 1941 and Arias was ousted on October 9, 1941, and the bank was immediately closed under the new President Dr. Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango, which meant the 1941 series of currency was in circulation for less than a week. The notes were quickly removed from circulation and destroyed which is why so few are available to collectors today.
