El Banco de Oriente
Five Pesos · Series I, N.° 6227 · Rionegro, February 14, 1888
Historical and Issue Context
Founded by public deed in Rionegro:The Banco de Oriente was established in 1883 by public deed executed before the notary of the Rionegro circuit —, as stated in the legend printed on this banknote —, as a public limited company with a subscribed capital of close to $126,000 pesos, distributed among more than 220 shareholders from different towns in eastern Antioquia.2
The third largest bank in Antioquia:by subscribed capital, Banco de Oriente ranked as the department's third-largest banking institution, behind only Banco de Medellín and Banco de Antioquia.2Its first banknote issue, produced in 1884, totaled 21,000 pesos, followed that same year by three additional issues totaling another 110,000 pesos.2
The only Antioquia bank outside the Aburrá Valley:unlike nearly all Antioquian banking establishments, which were concentrated in Medellín, Banco de Oriente operated from Rionegro —the former seat of the 1863 Convention and a commercial center that, thanks to the mining boom in the Santa Rosa and Rionegro highlands, had supplied the mines of northern and eastern Antioquia since the eighteenth century.3
A regional bank, with regional scope:its discount and credit operations remained local, serving mainly merchants in eastern Antioquia and the bank's own partners, without extending into the gold trade or foreign commerce handled by Medellín's major banks.2
Key Details Visible on the Banknote
- Central vignette:mountainous landscape of eastern Antioquia, in orange ink, framed by an engraved oval —a representative view of the region where the bank operated.
- Side rosettes:four geometric medallions with the value “5” repeated in the corners, typical of nineteenth-century banking guilloché.
- Founding legend:“Founded by public deed granted in Rionegro on March 5, 1883”, printed vertically along both side margins of the obverse.
- Text of the obligation:“The Banco de Oriente will pay to the bearer and on demand Five Pesos of sterling, in current coins”, with place and date handwritten —“Rionegro, February 14, 1888”— and the handwritten signature of Ramón Correa as Manager, together with the lines for Cashier and Secretary of the Board of Directors.
- Numbering:“Serie I, N.° 6227”, printed in the upper corners next to the header “BANK OF THE ORIENT”.
- Reverse:Full geometric guilloche in orange ink, with three large medallions —“BANK”, “5” and “EAST”, flanked by two smaller circles with the value “5”— and the text on the obverse visible in transparency.
Additional Context
Like most Colombian regional banks, the Banco de Oriente saw its issuance capacity restricted after the 1886 decree that established the forced exchange of the National Bank note, and the 1887 prohibition on issuance by private banks —measures that the minutes of its own board of directors recorded with marked opposition.4The bank continued to operate well into the 20th century, decades before the Bank of the Republic assumed the absolute monopoly of monetary issuance in Colombia in 1923.5
Notes
1. A ten-peso bill (1887) from the same bank is cataloged in collectors' literature as Pick PS-699; A confirmed catalog number was not found for the denomination of five pesos.
2. Meisel Roca, Adolfo, and María Teresa Ramírez (eds.). “Currency and Banking in a Gold Economy: The Antioquia Region (Colombia), 1850–1890.”Economic Analysis, UAM Azcapotzalco / SciELO Mexico, 2011; and Sánchez, Fabio, et al. “Banking and Region in Colombia, 1850–1880.”Economics Notebooks, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2009.
3. Botero Herrera, María Mercedes. “Local Banks in the Nineteenth Century: The Case of Banco de Oriente in Antioquia.”Cultural and Bibliographic Bulletin, vol. 25, n.° 17, Banco de la República, 1988, pp. 76–93.
4. Meisel Roca, Adolfo, and María Teresa Ramírez (eds.),op. cit.
5. Banco de la República. “Chapter V. Commercial Banks in the Era of Free Banking, 1871–1923.”repositorio.banrep.gov.co.