10 Pesos

Banco Unión operated out of Cartagena during one of the most turbulent periods in Colombian banking history — the era of free banking under the 1871 law that allowed private regional banks to issue their own currency with minimal federal oversight. By 1887, the year of this note, political pressure was already building toward the banking centralization that would eventually produce the Banco Nacional's monopoly on issue.

ABNC's work for Colombian provincial banks during this period was extensive, and plates were sometimes shared or adapted across clients. Worth confirming whether the S868 plate was unique to Banco Unión or adapted from an earlier commission.