El Banco de Pamplona

The smallest denomination in the series:Issued ten months before the Ten Peso banknote shown below, this specimen —Series A, N.° 0062— represents the lower end of the denominations with which El Banco de Pamplona served the commercial market of Norte de Santander in the early 1880s. It bears the same founding deed, N.° 536 of October 10, 1882, and the signature of Luis Ant. Gómez as 2.° Director —the same official who signed the higher-denomination issue—, evidence of the bank’s administrative continuity between 1883 and 1884.

Distinctive vignette:a classical female bust wearing a diadem, within a black-ink oval —very different from the bear illustrating the Diez Pesos note—, confirming that each denomination had its own plate engraved by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. The reverse is printed in orange ink, with a large-format number “1” and a handwritten signature beneath “El Cajero”.

Historical and Issue Context

Pamplona, Andean shopping plaza:A city founded in 1549 in the northeast of the country, Pamplona was during the 19th century a leading commercial and religious center in the region that today makes up the department of Norte de Santander, with close commercial links with Venezuela through Cúcuta. In this context of commercial boom, the city founded its own issuing bank in 1872, in the midst of the Colombian free banking era.

A second inscription, while still valid:The banknote cites the founding deed N.° 536 of October 10, 1882 before the notary Nicolás Calderón, which indicates a formal reconstitution or renewal of the bank a decade after its origin, probably to increase its capital or update its statutes in accordance with current banking legislation.

One of three banks created to fill a gap:The economic literature on the period confirms 1882 as the year of founding of El Banco de Pamplona, consistent with the writing cited on the banknote.¹It emerged, together with Banco del Norte (1881) and Banco Prendario de Soto (1883), to fill the gap left by the 1879 closure of Santander's first bank, Banco de Santander.¹Santander in fact experienced the country's highest level of banking deregulation: its 1865 state constitution allowed units of account other than the peso and even the use of foreign currency in commerce.¹

The abrupt end of Santander free banking:The Bank of Pamplona did not manage to survive the devastating effects of the civil war of 1884–1885 —, the same conflict that broke out just months after this note was issued— and had to be liquidated a few years later, a fate shared by much of the Colombian regional private banking at the end of the 19th century.

Key Details Visible on the Banknote

• Central vignette:engraving of a bear on a rock, an unusual decorative motif in Colombian banking iconography — characteristic of the repertoire of reserve prints that European engraving houses such as Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. reused in commissions from different countries.
• Office hours:note printed in the left margin —“Business hours: from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, non-holidays”— a rare operational detail that reveals the daily functioning of a nineteenth-century regional bank.
• Triple handwritten signature:three distinct signatures at the foot of the obverse —El Director Gerente, El 2.° Director, and El 3.er Director—, evidence of a collegial board responsible for authenticating each note issued.
• Reverse:printed entirely in green ink with a wraparound guilloché and the number “10” in large format in the center, as well as a second handwritten signature corresponding to “El Cajero”.
• Imprint:“Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., Engravers, London” printed in tiny print at the foot of the obverse, identifying one of Britain's leading 19th-century banknote and securities engravers.

Additional Context

This circulation specimen, with two handwritten signatures of directors and obvious handling and folding marks, contrasts with the archival specimens that rarely circulated: it is a direct testimony of the commerce and banking life of Pamplona in the years prior to the civil war of 1884–1885, and a rare piece within the already scarce documented production of the free banking of eastern Colombia.

Series C, No.° 2304

A second note from this same issue —the same Series C and the same Pamplona date, May 19, 1884— survives with serial number 2304 instead of No.° 1908 shown earlier. The difference between the two examples is not one of type or variety but of print run: they are two distinct notes printed for the same issue and date, each with its own serial number. The most noticeable difference is on the reverse: No.° 1908 bears two handwritten signatures (an additional flourish beside that of “El Cajero”), while this No.° 2304 example bears only one handwritten signature beneath “El Cajero”. On the obverse, moreover, the signature of “El Director Gerente” is more legible here —José M. Villamizar—, whereas on No.° 1908 it is partly covered by the numerical “10” seal.

Enlarge Front (top) and back (bottom) — Series C, N.° 2304 — Collection from Notophilia.com