Peru P136 1000 Intis 1986-1988 UNC—Guerrilla Warrior—Chan Chan Adobe Ruins

Peru's 1000-inti note pairs the face of the general who refused to surrender — fighting a guerrilla war through the Andes while Lima was occupied — with the haunting ruins of Chan Chan, the largest adobe city ever built and the capital of a civilization that vanished five centuries before this note was printed.

Front

• Colors:
  • White/cream background; dark olive-green engraving on portrait; red left panel with pre-Columbian geometric patterns; green coat of arms with sunburst; red serial number; olive "MIL INTIS" text
• Portrait: Mariscal Andrés Avelino Cáceres, right side, with full beard
• Center: Peruvian coat of arms
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Denomination: "1000" lower left and both right corners; "MIL INTIS" below arms
• Name inscription: MARISCAL ANDRES AVELINO CACERES, right side
• Signatures: Varies by date — see Other Characteristics below

Back

• Colors:
  • Red left panel with pre-Columbian motifs; gray-green engraving on Chan Chan ruins and Chimú ceremonial staff; teal/turquoise right panel with diamond pattern; pink/salmon sunburst bottom center; olive "MIL INTIS" banner
• Left: Chimú ceremonial staff/scepter topped with a bird figure
• Center: Aerial view of the Ruins of Chan Chan — adobe walls and compounds stretching to the horizon
• Right: Teal panel with pre-Columbian figure and diamond geometric pattern
• Issuer name: BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ across top
• Denomination: "1000" top left and lower right; "MIL INTIS" bottom banner; "RUINAS DE CHAN CHAN" caption
• Printer imprint: THOMAS DE LA RUE AND COMPANY LIMITED, lower left

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: You may receive any variety:
  • P136a / TBB B475a — 1986-Mar-06, De La Rue; Sigs: Luis Guiulfo Zender (Dir.), Leonel Figueroa Ramírez (Pres.), Héctor Neyra Chavarry (Gen. Mgr.)
  • P136b / TBB B475b — 1987-Jun-26, De La Rue; Sigs: Jorge Ordóñez Ortiz (Dir.), Carlos Capuñay Mimbela (Pres.), César Farrari Quiñe (Gen. Mgr.)
  • P136b / TBB B475c — 1988-Jun-28, De La Rue; Sigs: Walter Reynafarje Bazán (Dir.), Luis F. Rodríguez Vildósola (Pres.), Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo (Gen. Mgr.)
• Catalog numbers: P136; TBB B475; Numista N#205632
• Watermark: Mariscal Andrés Avelino Cáceres
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 150 × 75 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Reserve Bank of Peru (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú)
• Printer: De La Rue, London
• Demonetized: 1 July 1991
• Currency: Inti (1985–1991)

The Wizard of the Andes — The General Who Refused to Quit

Andrés Avelino Cáceres (1836–1923) earned his nickname — "El Brujo de los Andes" (The Wizard of the Andes) — during one of the most desperate chapters in Peruvian history. After Chile defeated Peru in the War of the Pacific and occupied Lima in 1881, most Peruvian leaders surrendered or fled. Cáceres did neither. He retreated into the Andes and organized a guerrilla resistance from the highlands, leading indigenous montonero fighters in a campaign that tied down Chilean forces for years. His tactics — using mountain terrain, surprise attacks, and local knowledge — were so effective that the Chileans could never fully pacify the interior. He served as president three times (1886–1890, 1894–1895, and briefly in 1894) and remains one of Peru's most revered military heroes, a symbol of resistance against foreign occupation.

Chan Chan — The Largest Adobe City in the World

Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú Kingdom (c. AD 900–1470) and the largest pre-Columbian city in South America — covering nearly 20 km² on the northern coast of Peru near present-day Trujillo. At its peak it housed an estimated 30,000 people and was built entirely of adobe (sun-dried mud brick), with nine royal citadels, elaborate irrigation systems, and intricate geometric friezes covering its walls. The Chimú were conquered by the Inca around 1470, and Chan Chan was largely abandoned. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — and on the endangered list, as El Niño rains slowly dissolve its ancient walls. The ceremonial staff on the left of the note is a classic Chimú artifact, representing the bird deity central to their cosmology.

The Inti's Brief, Chaotic Life

The Inti replaced the sol at 1,000:1 in 1985 — already a sign of the inflation ravaging Peru. By 1990, annual inflation hit 7,649%. The Inti was replaced by the nuevo sol in 1991 at 1,000,000:1. This 1000-inti note, worth fractions of a U.S. cent at demonetization, is now a vivid artifact of one of Latin America's most dramatic economic collapses.

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 of Lima: From Limaq, a Quechua word meaning “talker” or “speaker,” referring to an oracle at the site
• Population: ~34 million (UN 2024) — comparable to California
• Area: 1,285,216 km² (496,225 mi²) — comparable to Alaska or France + Spain + Germany
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$16,000 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Copper, gold, zinc, fishmeal, coffee, asparagus, textiles
• Borders: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile; Pacific Ocean to the west
• Official/spoken languages: Spanish (official); Quechua and Aymara (co-official); dozens of Amazonian languages
• Ethnicities: Mestizo (~60%); Amerindian (~26%); White Peruvian (~6%); Afro-Peruvian and other (~8%)
• Memberships: UN (founding member, 1945); OAS (1948); Andean Community (founding member, 1969, hosts secretariat in Lima); APEC (1998); Pacific Alliance (founding member, 2011)
• Sovereignty: Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1821); Independence declared 28 July 1821; Republic of Peru (1821–date)

Peru Unfiltered

• Chan Chan endangered: UNESCO placed Chan Chan on its endangered list — El Niño rains are slowly dissolving 1,000-year-old adobe walls
• Largest adobe city: Chan Chan covers nearly 20 km² — larger than many modern city centers, built entirely of mud brick
• Hyperinflation record: Peru's 1990 inflation of 7,649% remains one of the worst in Latin American history
• Biodiversity: Peru contains ~10% of all species on Earth and is one of only 17 megadiverse countries
• Potato origin: The potato was domesticated in Peru ~8,000 years ago — the world owes its french fries to the Andes
• Shining Path: The Maoist insurgency (1980–2000) killed an estimated 70,000 people — the bloodiest internal conflict in South American history
• Nazca Lines: Enormous geoglyphs etched into the desert, some over 2,000 years old, still not fully explained
• Pisco war: Peru and Chile have an ongoing diplomatic dispute over which country invented pisco — both claim it fiercely

Own this note and hold the face of the general who fought an empire from the mountains — and the ghost of a civilization that built the largest mud-brick city the world has ever seen, on a note that itself crumbled into worthlessness within three years of issue.