Currency of Panama 1 Panamanian Balboa banknote 1941 "Arias" Issue - El Banco Central de Emision de la Republica de Panama
Obverse: Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
Reverse: Coat of arms of Panama.
Printed by Hamilton Bank Note Company, New York.
Panama banknotes - Panama paper money
1941 "Arias Series" Issue
1 Balboa 5 Balboas 10 Balboas 20 Balboas
Panamanian balboa
The balboa is, along with the United States dollar, one of the official currencies of Panama. It is named in honor of the Spanish explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The balboa is subdivided into 100 centésimos.
The balboa replaced the Colombian peso in 1904 following the country's independence. The balboa has been tied to the United States dollar (which is legal tender in Panama) at an exchange rate of 1:1 since its introduction and has always circulated alongside dollars.
In 1941, President Dr. Arnulfo Arias pushed the government to enact Article 156 to the constitution, authorizing official and private banks to issue paper money. As a result, on 30 September 1941, El Banco Central de Emission de la Republica de Panama was established.
The bank was authorized to issue up to 6,000,000 balboas worth of paper notes, but only 2,700,000 balboas were issued on 2 October 1941. A week later, Dr. Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango replaced Arias as president in a coup supported by the United States. The new government immediately closed the bank, withdrew the issued notes, and burned all unissued stocks of same. Very few of these so-called “Arias Seven Day” notes escaped incineration.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 – around January 12–21, 1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.
He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Panama in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.