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5 Pesos Banco de la Union
| Issuer | Banco de la Union |
|---|---|
| Year | 1886-1889 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on orange and blue guilloche underprint, with red serial numbers. A lion passant vignette occupies the upper centre, flanked by dragon vignettes at left and right. Two signature lines appear below the text block, attributed to El Presidente de la Direccion and El Administrador. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 5 BANCO DE LA UNION AMERICA CENTRAL REPUBLICA DE COSTA RICA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK. (Translation: Union Bank. Central America. Republic of Costa Rica.) |
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| Comments |
Banco de la Unión was one of several private Colombian banks chartered under the liberal banking legislation of the 1870s, which briefly allowed provincial institutions to issue their own currency with minimal federal oversight. The arrangement collapsed under fiscal pressure during the 1880s as the Regeneration government of Rafael Núñez moved to centralize monetary control, eventually establishing the Banco Nacional in 1880 and pushing the private banks into an increasingly constrained existence.
ABNC engraved notes for dozens of Latin American private banks during this period, often reusing plate elements across clients. Whether PS181 shares vignette stock with contemporaneous Colombian or regional issues is worth checking against the ABNC archives at the American Antiquarian Society.