The New 2026 Paraguayan Guaraní Banknotes: The Complete Family (2,000 to 100,000). Iberoamericana Banknotes

On October 5, 2026, coinciding with the 83rd anniversary of the creation of the guaraní, the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) finally pulled back the curtain and presented the complete new family of Paraguayan banknotes: six denominations—2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 guaraníes—with an entirely new design. It is the first comprehensive redesign of the guaraní in over sixty years, and for a collector, it means what few pieces of news in this trade mean: the appearance of an entire series, all at once, with a coherent visual identity from beginning to end.

At Iberoamericana Banknotes, we have already opened the reservation list for the new guaraní family. The banknotes have not yet entered circulation—only the designs have been unveiled—so it is not possible to purchase them at the moment: what you can do is reserve your complete series or the denominations that interest you by writing to us via email or WhatsApp, so that we can notify you and set them aside as soon as the BCP puts them into circulation and we are able to acquire them. Complete series of first issues sell out quickly, and in a renewal of this caliber, demand will be high.

Why Paraguay is renewing its banknotes now

The guaraní was born on October 5, 1943, and is, along with the Colombian peso, one of the few currencies in the region that has never undergone a redenomination or the removal of zeros. That nominal stability has a counterpart: eighty-three years of accumulated inflation—nearly 686,000% according to calculations published in the Paraguayan financial press—have left a very high structure of denominations in terms of figures. It is worth making one point clear that has caused confusion: this renewal does not remove zeros. The six denominations remain exactly the same; the design changes, not the value.

The project had been in the works for a long time. In February 2023, the BCP awarded the French firm Oberthur Fiduciaire the design and origination of the new family for about $270,000, in a contract that covered the design phase and not the printing. As the BCP treasury has explained, behind the designs are three years of work with historians and biologists, and the guiding idea was that each element on the obverse and reverse should be justified, without gratuitous ornamentation.

The result is a family with a very clear grammar: the obverse tells the history of Paraguay—two figures per banknote, grouped by theme—and the reverse tells of its nature, with a different ecoregion on each denomination and the species that inhabit it.

The six denominations, one by one

Each banknote has its own article, with details on the figures, the ecoregion, the design, and the technical specifications:

• The new 2,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — Indigenous peoples · Humid Chaco ecoregion · jaguar · polymer, violet color.
• The new 5,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — San Roque González de Santa Cruz and Fray Juan de San Fernando · Ñeembucú ecoregion · caiman · polymer, red color.
• The new 10,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia and Carlos Antonio López · Amambay ecoregion · maned wolf · polymer debut, orange color.
• The new 20,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — Francisco Solano López and José Félix Estigarribia · Pantanal ecoregion · surubí · cotton, yellow color.
• The new 50,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — Celsa and Adela Speratti · Dry Chaco ecoregion · taguá (Chaco peccary) · cotton, blue color.
• The new 100,000 guaraníes banknote 2026 — Agustín Pío Barrios and José Asunción Flores · Upper Paraná ecoregion · lapacho and butterflies · cotton, green color.

The major technical change: graduated size and more polymer

Two technical decisions define this family above and beyond the design.

The first is the graduated format. All banknotes maintain the same width, but the length increases with the value: as detailed by the BCP, there is about a 7-millimeter difference between one denomination and the next, so that the 100,000 note is the longest and the 2,000 note is the shortest. This is not an aesthetic whim: it is an accessibility measure designed so that visually impaired people can identify the value by touch, reinforced by embossed tactile marks, larger numerals, and more pronounced contrasts. It is the same principle followed by the euro or the pound, and Paraguay is now adopting it for the first time.

The second is the expansion of polymer. Until now, Paraguay printed the 2,000 and 5,000 guaraníes banknotes on polymer. In the new family, the 10,000 is added, switching from cotton to polymer for durability reasons: these are the denominations that circulate the most in day-to-day life and are the first to deteriorate. The three high-value denominations—20,000, 50,000, and 100,000—remain on a cotton substrate, which allows for traditional watermarks and printing finishes that polymer does not allow as effectively.

Denomination	Substrate	Dominant color	Reverse ecoregion
2,000 guaraníes	Polymer	Violet	Humid Chaco
5,000 guaraníes	Polymer	Red / pink	Ñeembucú
10,000 guaraníes	Polymer (new)	Orange	Amambay
20,000 guaraníes	Cotton	Yellow / gold	Pantanal
50,000 guaraníes	Cotton	Blue	Dry Chaco
100,000 guaraníes	Cotton	Green	Upper Paraná

Security measures

The BCP has emphasized that the family incorporates a completely renewed security package, developed through international bidding. Among the elements announced and visible in the presentation images:

• Relief printing (intaglio) on portraits, main texts, and tactile marks.
• New generation security thread on cotton denominations.
• Watermark adapted to the new design on the cotton banknotes.
• Optically variable inks and color-shifting holograms, clearly visible on the harp of the 100,000 note and the geometric motifs of the middle denominations.
• Transparent windows on the three polymer banknotes, with integrated wildlife figures.
• Large, high-contrast numerals and tactile marks to aid identification.

Paraguayan identity in the details

Beyond the portraits and animals, the BCP has sown the family with cultural references that serve as a common thread: the Paraguayan harp, ñandutí lace, ao po'i fabric, the 60-striped poncho para'i, and allusions to tereré. These are the motifs that appear in borders, backgrounds, and micro-printing, and one of the incentives for collecting the complete series: the six banknotes together read as a journey through the country's identity, not as six separate pieces.

When will they enter circulation?

It is best to be cautious here, because this is the information that has been repeated most with different versions. The BCP has not confirmed a firm date for entry into circulation. What was presented on October 5, 2026, are the designs; the printing still needs to be awarded through an international tender. References published in the Paraguayan press range from the first quarter of 2027 to a broader window of 2027-2028, depending on the timelines for bidding, printing, and distribution. As soon as the Central Bank communicates the official date, we will update this article.

What is confirmed is that the current banknotes remain legal tender. There is no forced exchange or expiration date: both families will coexist, and the old banknotes will be withdrawn naturally as they deteriorate with use. For the collector, this has an immediate takeaway: the current guaraní family begins its countdown as of today, and uncirculated pieces from the outgoing series will start to appreciate in value long before they disappear from the streets.

Family technical sheet (confirmed and pending)

• Issuer: Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP).
• Design presentation: October 5, 2026, 83rd anniversary of the guaraní.
• Denominations: 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 guaraníes.
• Substrates: polymer (2,000, 5,000, and 10,000) and cotton (20,000, 50,000, and 100,000).
• Format: uniform width and graduated length, with about 7 mm of difference between denominations.
• Design and origination: Oberthur Fiduciaire (France), awarded in February 2023.
• Printer: unconfirmed. Oberthur's contract covered the design, not the production; the printing will be awarded via international tender.
• Print run and serial prefixes: unannounced. The presentation images show sample numbering with an A prefix (A00000000 / A00000001), typical of presentation specimens and not indicative of the final numbering.
• Circulation date: unconfirmed (press estimates between the first quarter of 2027 and 2028).

Why this series is so interesting to collectors

1. It is a complete and simultaneous family. A single banknote is not arriving: six are arriving, designed as a set. Complete first-issue series are the most sought-after collection format and the one that appreciates the most when sold out.
2. It closes more than sixty years of visual continuity. The guaraní had decades with the same essential image. A break like this, in a currency that has never been redenominated, does not happen twice in a generation.
3. It debuts polymer for the 10,000 note. The switch from cotton to polymer makes the 2026 10,000 guaraníes note a transition piece: the first banknote of that value printed on plastic in the country's history.
4. The graduated size is a technical milestone. It is the first time that Paraguay has adopted a variable format system for accessibility, a design criterion that marks an era in a country's numismatics.
5. It affects the outgoing series. Every renewal increases the value of what it replaces. The current guaraníes in uncirculated state are, as of today, a collection target with an expiration date.

Why reserve at Iberoamericana Banknotes

• Authenticity guaranteed, with pieces verified one by one before leaving our warehouse.
• Complete series: we work to offer the entire family, not just the easy denominations.
• No-obligation reservation: we will notify you as soon as there is stock and we respect the list order.
• International shipping with tracking and protected packaging for uncirculated banknotes.
• Specialized service: we are collectors, we respond as collectors.
• Updates: we keep this article up to date as the BCP confirms dates, printers, and print runs.

Reserve your new guaraní series now

The new guaraní family is, without exaggeration, one of the most interesting issues that 2026 will leave behind in all of Ibero-America. If you want to secure the complete series of six uncirculated banknotes, write to us via email or WhatsApp and we will include you on the reservation list; when the BCP confirms circulation, those on the reservation list have priority.

In the meantime, you can explore our Paraguay banknotes section by clicking here, where you will find the current guaraní family—the one this new series will replace—in uncirculated state.

And if you are interested in complete banknote family renewals, don't miss our article on the new 2026 Eastern Caribbean dollar banknotes, another entire series released this same year.