Catalog
5 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de la Unión |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green intaglio on white paper, the reverse displays a symmetrical lathe-work guilloche design with four large oval rosettes at the corners and two numeral 5 panels flanking a central rectangular frame. The central frame bears the inscription EL CAJERO within an elaborate engine-turned border. The American Bank Note Company imprint appears at the bottom centre, and the overall design is composed of intricate geometric lathe-work patterns typical of the period. |
| Reverse lettering | 5 EL CAJERO AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
Banco de la Unión was one of several private Colombian commercial banks authorized to issue currency under the 1880 banking law, which ended the state's monopoly on note issue and opened the field to private institutions — a brief liberal experiment that lasted only until the Banco Nacional reasserted dominance in the late 1880s. The Union's notes were redeemable in silver coin at its Bogotá offices, a promise that became increasingly strained as silver depreciation worsened through the decade.
ABNC engraved and printed the entire series in New York. Colombian private bank notes of this period are genuinely scarce; most circulated hard and were redeemed or destroyed when the issuing banks folded.