Advertisements on Chihuahua notes - Banks, currency exchange and brokers

By February 1915 there were around 20 so-called exchange banks in existence in El Paso which dealt exclusively in Mexican paper currency and, because of the enforced use of paper money by Mexicans in Mexico, did a great volume of business^{El Paso Herald, 6 February 1915}.

Normal banks also used these notes as a marketing medium.

El Paso

Commercial National Bank

In January 1915 the Commercial National Bank was at 107 Texas: in March 1916 it moved to a Henry C. Trost designed building on the the corner of North Mesa Street and Mills Avenue. From 1918 to 1922 the bank was known as Security Bank & Trust Co and in 1925 became the El Paso National Bank.

Commercial National Bank

'COMMERCIAL NATIONAL BANK/ EL PASO, TEXAS/ We Invite your Correspondence/Special Attention to Southwestern Collections/Resources $1,000,000.00', known on $1 Banco del Estado

First National Bank, El Paso

First National Bank

The First National Bank left its premises at 202 South El Paso Street/100 East San Antonio Avenue in 1914, when it merged with the American National Bank. It moved to the First National Bank Building.

First National Bank El Paso

'COMPLIMENTS/of/FIRST NATIONAL BANK/EL Paso, Texas/Capital and Surplus/$1,000,000.00' (vertical), known on $10 dos caritas

First National Bank

'Compliments/of/FIRST NATIONAL BANK/EL PASO, TEXAS' (vertical), known on $1 (in red), $5 (red and black), $10 (red), $20 (red) and $50 (red) dos caritas.

Rio Grande Valley Bank & Trust Co.

Rio Grande Valley Bank and Trust building

Constructed in 1910 as the Rio Grande Valley Bank Building, at 115 North Mesa Street, the Abdou Building, as it is known today, was renamed after being purchased by prominent businessmen Sam Abdou in 1925. Designed by Henry C. Trost, the beautifully detailed reinforced concrete building has no two sides parallel on the quadrilateral site.

The Rio Grande Valley Bank & Trust was the bank used by Pancho Villa.

Advert dos 5 Rio Grande Valley Bank Trust

'COMPLIMENTS OF / RIO GRANDE VALLEY BANK & TRUST CO. / EL PASO TEXAS.' known on $5 dos caritas

Advert postcard 5 Rio Grande Valley Bank

Advert postcard Rio Grande Valley Bank reverse

The Rio Grande Valley Bank & Trust Company also used postcards with dos caritas stuck on them and the inscription ‘$1.00 Bill All Kinds of Money in El Paso $1.00 Bill/$1.00 Bill Villa Mexican Currency $1.00’ around the border as a marketing ploy.

Chihuahua Exchange

City National Bank 1

City National Bank building, 1907

The Chihuahua Exchange company, with a capitalisation of $150,000, was incorporated in Chihuahua on 15 April 1905, with Lorenzo J. Arellano as president and manager, Alberto. V. Garcia as vice-president and treasurer and Salvador Arellano as secretary. Its object was to buy and sell country and city properties, and deal in real estate generally, to deal in mines and metals and to promote all classes of commercial and banking operations^{El Contemporaneo, 8 May 1905; The Mexican Herald, 15 May 1905}.

By 1915 it was at 205 City National Bank building, 102 Pioneer Plaza, El Paso, with Vincent B. Andreas as president.

Chihuahua Exchange

'CHIHUAHUA EXCHANGE / EL PASO, TEXAS / The Largest Importers and / Handlers of Mexican Cattle /V. B. ANDREAS, President' , known on $1 dos caritas

International Exchange

'INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE AND COMMISSION CO, EL PASO', known on $1 dos caritas^{[image needed]}

In 1915 the International Exchange and Commission Co, with Martin Falomir, Guillermo Porras, and José Asunsolo as owners, was at 313 First National Bank Building: in June 1916 it moved to spacious offices at 324 South El Paso Street^{Prensa, San Antonio, 23 July 1916}. They were private bankers, offering 4% on deposits, buying and selling Mexican money, and carrying out import and export and general commission business.

J. W. Lorentzen & Co.

Mills building

J. W. Lorentzen & Co. first appeared in the 1920 directory, in the Mills building, Pioneer Plaza, northwest corner Oregon, and by 1950 had moved to 801-802 Bassett Tower, 301-313 Texas.

The Mills building stands on the original site of the 1832 Ponce de León ranch. Anson Mills hired Henry C. Trost, El Paso's foremost pioneer architect to design and construct the building. Completed in 1911, it was one of the largest all-concrete buildings then constructed.

'J. W. LORENTZEN & CO./ MERCHANDISE BROKERS, EL PASO, TEX.', known on $1 dos caritas

[ ] Bush

advert Bush

GENUINE / MEXICAN MONEY / ANY AMOUNT / [ ] BUSH / BOX [ ]45 / EL PASO TEX in a circle, known on $1 Banco del Estado de Chihuahua.

This might have been a broker or, more likely, a curios shop.

Nogales

In October 1915 it was reported that all the banks in Nogales were giving away Villa currency as souvenirs^{El Paso Herald, 5 October 1915}.

First National Bank

First National Bank Nogales

The First National Bank was located at [ ]. In 1912 a local newspaper reported that "The First National Bank of Nogales is one which might be emulated with profit by many far more pretentious. When the panic of 1907 struck Arizona it was almost the only financial institution in the state which met all its obligations without hesitation or reservation and paid all checks presented at its counter without giving out to depositors the admonition to draw lightly, nor did it limit the amounts drawn to small sums, as was the case with banks in Phoenix, Bisbee, Tucson, Douglas and other places; and, for that matter, all over the United States^{The Oasis, 25 December 1912}".

First National Bank of Nogales

'SOUVENIR FROM/THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF NOGALES/Nogales, Arizona', known on $5 dos caritas

Nogales Exchange

Nogales Exchange System

'SOUVENIR/FROM/Nogales Exchange System/MORLEY Avenue 21 Tel. 49/NOGALES, ARIZONA' known on $1 dos caritas

Guillermo Robinson was manager of the Nogales Exchange System in 1920^{The Border Vignette, Twenty-eighth year, No. 36, 4 September 1920}.

Santa Cruz Valley Bank & Trust

Morley Avenue 1916
Morley Avenue in 1916

Santa Cruz

Morley Avenue was the main business street in Nogales at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Santa Cruz Valley Bank & Trust, one of three banks in the town at the time, is on the corner of Morley and Park Street.

Advert dos 5 C 747190 Santa Cruz reverse

'COMPLIMENTS OF / Santa Cruz Valley Bank & Trust Co., / NOGALES, ARIZONA' known on a counterfeit $5 dos caritas

Douglas

Sonora Exchange

'SONORA EXCHANGE/Cambio de Dinero Mexicano al major Tipo/Avenida G No. 711 Douglas, Ariz.', known on $5 dos caritas

The Sonora Exchange And Commission Company also had offices at Morley Avenue, Nogales, Arizona in late 1915^{Nogales Daily Herald, 23 October 1915}.

Mobridge, South Dakota

First National Bank

Advert First National Bank Mobridge

'Write us for low prices of cheap land on easy terms / First National Bank / Mobridge, South Dakota', known on $5 dos caritas

This bank opened in 1930.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Stock Yards National Bank

Oklahoma Stock Yard National Bank

'VILLA CURRENCY/ NOT GOOD MONEY/DO NOT TRY TO PASS THIS/COMPLIMENTS OF/OKLAHOMA STOCK YARDS NATIONAL BANK/OKLAHOMA CITY/ASK US ABOUT/CATTLE LOANS', known on $1 dos caritas

The Oklahoma Stock Yards National Bank was first chartered in 1910 along with the opening of the Oklahoma City stockyards and two livestock packing plants, Morris & Co. and S & S Packing. The principal owner was Col. Edward Morris who also owned other banks, stockyards companies and other packing plants in the Midwest. The bank moved to downtown Oklahoma City in 1924.

Columbia, South Carolina

Bank of Columbia

advert Bank of Columbia

CURRENCY / ISSUED BY THE MEXICAN BANDIT / VILLA / A SOUVENIR FROM / THE BANK OF COLUMBIA / COLUMBIA, S. C., known on $1 Banco del Estado de Chihuahua.