Peru P118 or P122 1000 Soles de Oro 1979/1981 UNC—Admiral Grau—Fishermen

A late-era Sol de Oro note honoring Peru's greatest naval hero — Admiral Miguel Grau — alongside a timeless scene of Pacific fishermen. You'll receive either the 1979 De La Rue printing (P-118) or the 1981 American Bank Note printing (P-122); both feature the same iconic design without guilloches on the coat of arms.

Front

• Colors:
  • P-118 (TDLR): green print with gold and orange
  • P-122 (ABNC): black, green, and multicolor
• Right: portrait of Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario
• Center-top: coat of arms of Peru (without guilloches)
• Issuer: Banco Central de Reserva del Perú
• Face value: Mil Soles de Oro
• Watermark: Admiral Grau
• Signatures: varies by variety — see Other Characteristics below

Back

• Colors:
  • P-118 (TDLR): green and red print
  • P-122 (ABNC): multicolored green and tan
• Scene: fishermen preparing nets and boats
• Issuer: Banco Central de Reserva del Perú
• Face value: Mil Soles de Oro
• P-122 only: "American Bank Note Company" printed on reverse

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: you may receive any variety:
  • P-118 — 1979-Feb-01 or 1979-May-03; printed by De La Rue (TDLR), London; catalog: P-118, TBB B445, BCRP# 166–167; Numista N#220384
  • P-122 — 1981-Nov-05; printed by American Bank Note Corporation (ABNC), USA; catalog: P-122a, TBB B446a, BCRP# 168; Numista N#206013
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 150 × 75 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Reserve Bank of Peru (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú)
• Printers: De La Rue, London (P-118) or American Bank Note Corporation, USA (P-122)
• Demonetized: December 31, 1986
• Currency: Sol de Oro (1931–1985)

The Hero of Angamos

Miguel Grau Seminario (1834–1879) is Peru's most revered military figure — a man so respected that even his enemies mourned him. As commander of the ironclad Huáscar during the War of the Pacific against Chile, Grau spent months outmaneuvering a vastly superior Chilean fleet, protecting Peru's coastline and supply lines with a single ship. He was known for his chivalry: after sinking the Chilean corvette Esmeralda, he rescued survivors from the water and returned the personal belongings of a fallen Chilean captain to his widow. When Grau was finally killed at the Battle of Angamos on October 8, 1879, Chilean Admiral Patricio Lynch ordered his remains treated with full military honors. Peru named its highest naval rank after him. His face has appeared on more Peruvian banknotes than any other figure.

The Fishermen of Peru

The reverse scene is no mere decoration. Peru's Pacific coast sits atop the Humboldt Current, one of the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth, making Peru consistently one of the world's top three fishing nations by volume. The anchovy-driven fishmeal industry alone has at times accounted for over 10% of global fish catch. The artisanal fishermen depicted on this note — working nets and wooden boats — represent a tradition stretching back thousands of years to the Moche and Chimú civilizations, who built their entire economies around the sea. Today Peru exports fishmeal, fish oil, and fresh seafood worth billions annually.

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; gradually applied to the entire region
• Capital: Lima (city pop. ~10 million; metro pop. ~11 million)
  • Origin of name: Corrupted from Limaq, the Quechua name of the Rimac River, 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 a piece of Peru's naval legend. Whether you receive the TDLR or ABNC printing, Admiral Grau's portrait is the same — dignified, resolute, and worthy of any Latin America collection.