500 Pesos

The Tesorería General de la Unión occupied a peculiar role in Colombian monetary history — it was a fiscal agency, not a bank, yet it issued paper currency during a period when the country's banking infrastructure was fragmented across state lines and private concessions. The 1880s emissions were tied directly to chronic government deficits, and 500-peso denominations at this level were not retail money; they moved between merchants, government contractors, and customs houses.

Local Bogotá printing for high-denomination government paper at this date is worth noting — most comparable regional issuers were still dependent on American Bank Note Company or European printers. Whether this reflects nationalist procurement policy or simple expedience is unresolved in the literature.