El Banco de Colombia
Mortgage Certificate · Series Z · One Peso in Legal Gold
Historical and Issue Context
A certificate, not a banknote:unlike circulating banknotes from the free-banking era, this piece is a mortgage certificate —a debt security backed by real-estate mortgages and authorized to circulate with fiduciary force under a specific legal framework: Law 24 of 1905 and the contract signed by the National Government and El Banco de Colombia on February 6, 1912.
The equivalent in pounds sterling:The text expresses the value of the certificate both in gold pesos and in its exact equivalent in English shillings (£0.4.0) — a stabilization mechanism that sought to anchor the confidence of the instrument to a recognized international monetary standard, in the financial context after the First World War.
A publicly reproduced contract:The reverse reproduces verbatim the clauses of the concession contract with the State, including Clause 8.ª on issuance authorizations and control of the bank's commercial books —, a practice of contractual transparency that was unusual in conventional banknotes of the time.
Key Details Visible on the Identification Card
- Upper vignette:Andean condor in red ink with wings fully spread, national heraldic symbol.
- Main text:“THE BANK OF COLOMBIA will pay to the bearer ONE PESO IN LEGAL GOLD, (equivalent to four shillings (£ 0.4.0) English currency). This mortgage bond is issued on the date in accordance with Law 24 of 1905 and the contract entered into between the National Government and the Bank of Colombia on February 6, 1912.”
- Signatures:Ernesto Michelsen, Eduardo Collins and Liborio Maldonado C., directors and administrators of the entity.
- Reverse:rectangular frame of geometric guilloché lace in blue; In the center, panels with the contractual clauses, highlighting the mention of Clause 8.ª on authorizations for the issuance and control of commercial books.
- Two-color lithographic pattern:layering of black and red engraving over a fine network of slate-blue lines as a defense against unauthorized photomechanical reproduction.
- Numbering:serial number “103.697” stamped in carmine ink on both sides of the obverse using a separate impact press.
