Peru P102c 100 Soles de Oro 1973 UNC—Creator of Peru's Moden Medicine—Congress

A note that pairs two pillars of Peruvian nationhood — the physician-statesman who built the republic's intellectual foundations, and the church where Peru's first national congress convened. One hundred soles, two centuries of history.

Front

• Colors: dark blue and black on multicolor underprint
• Portrait: Hipólito Unanue at right
• Center: coat of arms of Peru
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Face value: in numerals at all four corners; CIEN SOLES DE ORO in letters below arms
• Signatures: 2 signatures — Emilio Gregorio Barreto Bermeo (EGBB, Executive President), Germán de la Melena Guzmán (GMG, Director); series G97–G107
• Printer name: THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY, LIMITED at bottom

Back

• Colors: dark blue and black on multicolor underprint
• Main illustration: church that was the site of Peru's first national congress
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Face value: in numerals at all four corners; CIEN SOLES DE ORO at bottom center
• Printer name: THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY, LIMITED at bottom

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • P-95a / TBB B437a — 1968-Feb-23; LBM, JMU, CRP; 3 signatures; Ley 13958; series G36–G40; 3,500,000 printed
  • P-102a / TBB B437b — 1969-Jun-20; EGBB, GMG; 2 signatures; series G40–G57; 17,000,000 printed
  • P-102b / TBB B437c — 1970-Oct-16; EGBB, JCM; 2 signatures; series G57–G72; 15,000,000 printed
  • P-102b / TBB B437d — 1971-Sep-09; EGBB, LBC; 2 signatures; series G72–G87; 15,000,000 printed
  • P-102b / TBB B437e — 1972-May-04; EGBB, EBM; 2 signatures; series G87–G97; 10,000,000 printed
  • P-102c / TBB B437f — 1973-May-24; EGBB, GMG; 2 signatures; series G97–G107; 10,000,000 printed — this note
  • P-102c / TBB B437g — 1974-May-16; EGBB, LBC; 2 signatures; series G107–G132; 25,000,000 printed
  • P-102c / TBB B437h — 1974-Aug-15; EGBB, EBM; 2 signatures; series G132–G152; 20,700,000 printed
  • P-108 / TBB B437i — 1975-Oct-02; PFP, CSN, APC; 3 signatures; series G153–G172; 19,300,000 printed
• Catalog numbers: P-102c; TBB B437f; BCRP# 138; Numista N#205624
• Date: 24-May-1973
• 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 Doctor Who Built a Nation

Hipólito Unanue (1755–1833) was the most important scientist and statesman of Peru's founding generation. Born in Arica, he trained as a physician and became professor of anatomy in Lima, where he founded the School of Medicine of San Fernando in 1811 — still Peru's premier medical school today. He was a leading figure of the Peruvian Enlightenment, editing the influential journal Mercurio Peruano and writing Observaciones sobre el clima de Lima, a pioneering work on the relationship between climate and public health. When independence came, he served as Minister of Finance under both San Martín and Bolívar, helping to stabilize the new republic's finances. He is remembered as the father of Peruvian medicine and one of the intellectual architects of the nation.

The Church Where Peru Was Born

The building on the reverse is the Basílica Catedral de Lima — or more precisely, the church that hosted Peru's first constituent congress in 1822, where the young republic began the work of writing its first constitution. Lima's historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, was the seat of Spanish colonial power in South America for nearly three centuries — the Viceroyalty of Peru governed half a continent from these streets. The congress that met here was the first act of genuine self-governance in Peruvian history, convened just one year after independence was declared.

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 face of the man who gave Peru its first medical school and helped finance its first government — alongside the church where the republic took its first breath. The 100 Soles de Oro is a handsome, historically rich note perfect for a Peru set, a Latin American independence collection, or anyone who collects the stories of nation-building.