Catalog
1 Peso
| Issuer | Banco de Medellín |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Peso (1837-1910) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse is headed with the large inscription "UN PESO" repeated on either side of a central oval vignette portraying a classical female figure. The note was issued by El Banco Republicano on behalf of Banco de Medellín, with the place and date of issue "Medellín, 30 Octubre 1899" handwritten below the vignette. Four corner cartouches bear the names of the bank's founding shareholders, Colombian national flags appear as underprint elements in the lateral panels, and two manuscript signatures of bank officials appear at the lower centre alongside the series and serial number. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a plain rectangular text panel with a fine guilloche border. The central text states that the note is the responsibility of the Banco de Medellín, assimilated to a libranza and forming part of the amount agreed with the National Government under the contract of 7 September 1899. A small numeral "1" appears in the lower corners, and an ink cancellation stamp is visible to the right. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banco de Medellín was one of several private Colombian banks operating under the free banking framework established by the 1880 banking law, which permitted chartered institutions to issue their own notes backed by specie reserves. By 1899, that system was already under severe strain — the Thousand Days War, which began that same year, would devastate private bank reserves and ultimately hand the Colombian government the justification it needed to centralize currency issuance and suppress private note-issuing rights entirely.
Most Banco de Medellín notes were redeemed or destroyed in the monetary consolidation that followed. Survivors from the 1899 issues are correspondingly scarce.