Catalog
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| Issuer | Sociedad de Zancudo, Medellín |
|---|---|
| Year | 1882 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Multicolour reverse in olive, green and red tones, dominated by an elaborate guilloche pattern with interlocking geometric borders. A circular lathe-work rosette at left incorporates the text 'UN PESO', while the central panel bears the large denomination inscription 'DIEZ REALES' in bold letterpress. The issuer name 'ZANCUDO' appears in the upper guilloche band. |
| Reverse lettering | ZANCUDO UN PESO DIEZ REALES American Bank Note Co. New York |
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| Comments |
Sociedad de Zancudo was a mining and smelting operation based in the Cauca region southwest of Medellín — one of the most significant gold-producing enterprises in 19th-century Colombia. Private banks and commercial firms routinely issued their own notes in this period, filling the void left by Colombia's chronically undercapitalized formal banking sector. Zancudo's notes circulated locally among workers and traders connected to the mining economy, functioning as a practical substitute for scarce coin.
American Bank Note Company's involvement was common for Latin American private issuers of means — the prestige of a New York-engraved note was itself a form of credibility in a region where confidence in paper was hard-won.