Let us go back to the days of Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution. Joe Zaffern of Southfield, Michigan, submitted this advertising bank note printed for the Bank of the State of Chihuahua by the American Bank Note Company, New York. Supposedly these were released by revolutionary forces with only one printed signature, which I find very unusual, but that is the information found in the current Standard Catalog of World Paper Money specialized edition.






















The nice feature about this note is that it was used for advertising "LA INTERNACIONAL" wine and liquor store located in the city of Juarez and run by Habanero Ripoll. The simple phone number 206 might give a clue to the era of issue. Juarez is located in the State of Chihuahua across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

Thanks to the U.S. Army in 1963 I was sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso for technical training for about a year. Thus, most of my off-duty time was spent in Jaurez searching for coins and checking out the low-end hosterias and tabernas. Local brews were about 12 cents a bottle, tequila and coke with a slice of lime was 15 cents, while a litre of tequila gold might have cost you about $1.25.