Peru P106 B435h 10 Soles de Oro 2-Oct-1975 UNC—Author of Inca History—Lake Titicaca

A mid-century Peruvian classic that puts two of the country's most enduring icons on a single note — the mestizo chronicler who bridged two worlds, and the highest navigable lake on Earth. Small denomination, outsized story.

Front

• Colors: red on yellow-orange underprint
• Portrait: Garcilaso Inca de la Vega in armor with crucifix at right
• Left: Garcilaso's home in Cusco
• Center: coat of arms of Peru
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Face value: in numerals at all four corners; DIEZ SOLES DE ORO in letters below arms
• Signatures: 3 signatures — Jorge Viale Solari (JVS), Carlos Santisteban de Noriega (CSN), Alonso Polar Campos (APC); series I396–I440
• Date & location: LIMA, 2 de OCTUBRE de 1975, rotated 90°
• Printer name: THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY, LIMITED at bottom

Back

• Colors: red on yellow-orange underprint
• Main illustration: Lake Titicaca with traditional reed boats
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Legend: LAGO TITICACA
• Face value: in numerals at all four corners; DIEZ SOLES DE ORO at bottom center
• Printer name: THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY, LIMITED at bottom

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • P-93 / TBB B435a — 1968-Feb-23; AMM, JMU, CRP; series I171–I185; 15,000,000 printed
  • P-100a / TBB B435b — 1969-Jun-20; EGBB, JCM; series I186–I205; 20,000,000 printed
  • P-100b / TBB B435c — 1970-Oct-16; EGBB, LBC; series I206–I235; 30,000,000 printed
  • P-100b / TBB B435d — 1971-Sep-09; EGBB, EDC; series I236–I280; 45,000,000 printed
  • P-100c / TBB B435e — 1972-May-04; EGBB, GMG; series I281–I325; 45,000,000 printed
  • P-100c / TBB B435f — 1973-May-24; EGBB, JVS; series I326–I365; 40,000,000 printed
  • P-100c / TBB B435g — 1974-May-16; EGBB, JVS; series I366–I395; 30,000,000 printed
  • P-106 / TBB B435h — 1975-Oct-02; JVS, CSN, APC; series I396–I440; 45,000,000 printed — this note
• Catalog numbers: P-106; TBB B435h; BCRP# 125; Numista N#202391
• Date: 2-Oct-1975
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 155 × 65 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Reserve Bank of Peru (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú)
• Printer: De La Rue, London
• Demonetized: Yes (Sol de Oro replaced by Inti in 1985)
• Currency: Sol de Oro (1931–1985)

The Man Who Wrote Between Two Worlds

Garcilaso Inca de la Vega (1539–1616) was born in Cusco to a Spanish conquistador father and an Inca princess mother — a child of the collision between two civilizations. He grew up in the ruins of the empire his grandfather had helped destroy, then sailed to Spain at 21 and spent the rest of his life writing it back into existence. His masterwork, Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609), is the foundational text of Andean history — the first major account of Inca civilization written by someone who had actually lived inside it. He was a soldier, philosopher, translator, and historian, and he died in Córdoba, Spain, never having returned to Peru. His remains were repatriated to Cusco in 1978, three centuries late.

Lake Titicaca: The Roof of the World's Waters

Lake Titicaca sits at 3,812 meters above sea level on the Altiplano, straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia — the highest navigable lake on Earth. It covers 8,372 km², holds 893 km³ of water, and is so large it creates its own microclimate, keeping the surrounding plateau warmer than it has any right to be. The Uros people have lived on floating islands made entirely of totora reeds for centuries — islands that must be constantly rebuilt as the reeds decompose beneath them. Inca mythology holds that Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo, the founding couple of the empire, emerged from the lake's depths. The boats on this note — balsas — are still made and used today, unchanged for a thousand years.

About Peru

• Origin of name: Likely derived from Birú, the name of a local ruler or river encountered by Spanish explorers in the early 16th century; the name was gradually applied to the entire region
• Capital: Lima (city pop. ~10 million; metro pop. ~11 million)
  • Origin of name: Corrupted from Limaq, the name of the Rimac River in the local Quechua dialect, meaning "talker" or "speaker"
• Population: ~34 million (UN 2024) — slightly larger than Canada
• Area: 1,285,216 km² (496,225 mi²) — slightly smaller than Alaska; larger than France, Spain, and Germany combined
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$16,000 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: copper, gold, zinc, lead, fishmeal, asparagus, coffee, textiles
• Borders: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile; Pacific Ocean to the west
• Ethnicities: Mestizo (~60%), Amerindian (~26%), White Peruvian (~6%), Afro-Peruvian (~4%), other (~4%)
• Memberships: United Nations (founding member, 1945); OAS (founding member, 1948); WTO (1995); Pacific Alliance (founding member, 2011); APEC (1998)
• Sovereignty:
  • Inca Empire (c. 1438–1533) — largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas
  • Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1821)
  • Independence declared July 28, 1821; fully secured 1824 (Battle of Ayacucho)
  • Republic of Peru (1821–date) — this note issued during this period

Peru Unfiltered

• Peru is the world's second-largest producer of copper and silver and third-largest of zinc — its mountains are essentially a giant vault of metals that have driven empires, colonial extraction, and modern industry alike.
• The Amazon River begins in Peru. The Ucayali–Apurímac system, traced to a glacier on Nevado Mismi, is now recognized as the river's true source — making Peru the birthplace of the world's largest river by discharge.
• Peru has three completely distinct geographic zones within one country: the hyper-arid Pacific coast (one of the driest places on Earth), the Andes highlands above 4,000 m, and the Amazon jungle — each with its own climate, culture, and cuisine.
• Ceviche is a UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage dish — Peru takes its food seriously enough to have a national holiday for it (June 28).
• The Nazca Lines remain unexplained. Geoglyphs etched into the desert floor, some stretching 370 meters, were made by a civilization that vanished before the Inca. Their purpose — astronomical calendar? ritual landscape? alien landing strip? — is still debated.
• Peru's currency has been redenominated four times since this note was printed: Sol de Oro → Inti (1985) → Nuevo Sol (1991) → Sol (2015). Hyperinflation in the late 1980s reached 7,649% annually.
• Lake Titicaca, shared with Bolivia, is the world's highest navigable lake at 3,812 m — and home to the Uros people, who live on floating islands made entirely of totora reeds.

Own this note and hold the story of a man who refused to let his mother's civilization be forgotten — alongside the sacred lake where, according to the Inca, civilization itself began. The 10 Soles de Oro is an affordable, historically rich note perfect for a Peru set, a Latin American collection, or anyone drawn to the crossroads of conquest and memory.