Guatemala

The Guatemalan quetzal was established in 1925 and is named after the resplendent quetzal, Guatemala’s national bird. The obverse of each note features the quetzal and images of Mayan culture. A unique political figure that helped shape Guatemala into the country it is today is featured on each banknote. Top 3 picks for our favorite Guatemalan banknotes are the 5, 10 and 20.  Reintroduced as a polymer banknote, Justo Rufino Barrios is on the 5 quetzales and he was known for his presidency from 1873 to 1885. On the reverse, a classroom scene is depicted to commemorate Barrios’ education reform where he granted free and mandatory primary school to the Guatemalan people. The 10 quetzales note features Miguel García Granados, who was president of Guatemala from 1871 to 1873. On the reverse is a depiction of the Guatemalan National Assembly from 1872. Rounding up our list is the 20 quetzales featuring Mariano Gálvez, who was chief of state for Guatemala from 1831 to 1838. The reverse of the banknote contains the signing of the Central American Independence of September 15th, 1821.