Catalog
50 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco de Rio Hacha |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
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| Value | 50 Centavos |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on an orange-tinted underprint. At center, a classical allegorical female figure seated amongst sheaves of grain occupies the central vignette, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. To the lower left, the Colombian national coat of arms appears within an oval frame, while to the right a portrait vignette of a uniformed military figure — believed to be Simón Bolívar — is set within a circular frame. The denomination "CINCUENTA CENTAVOS" is inscribed in bold letterpress across the lower center, with the bank title "EL BANCO DE RIO HACHA" arching across the upper portion and the date "1° de Enero de 1883" at upper right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue, with an intricate all-over guilloche pattern forming the border and background. At left and right, large numerals "50" are set within geometric lathe-work panels. A large blank central oval reserve is surrounded by elaborate engine-turned scrollwork and rosette ornaments, with the inscription "EL CLERO" at its center. The printer's imprint "American Bank Note Co. New York" appears in small text at both the upper and lower margins. |
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| Comments |
Banco de Rio Hacha was one of several short-lived private Colombian banks granted note-issuing privileges under the country's 1865 banking law, operating out of a small Caribbean port town whose commercial importance had declined sharply since the colonial tobacco trade collapsed. The bank's lifespan was brief, and surviving notes from this issuer in any denomination are genuinely uncommon.
American Bank Note Company held the printing contract, as it did for the majority of Colombian private bank emissions during this period — the firm essentially standardized the look of Colombian provincial paper money in the 1880s. The S-prefix in the Pick reference places this firmly in the Specialized catalogue's Colombian private bank section, where the Rio Hacha listings occupy only a few lines.