The Union Bank

Historical and Issue Context

An institution native to the port of Cartagena:The Banco Unión issued this note in Cartagena de Indias during the era of free banking, the period between 1871 and 1886 in which Colombia had 34 private banks, each issuing its own paper money backed by its own commercial credit, without forced exchange or a central bank that unified the currency.¹

One shared name, two different banks:despite sharing an almost identical name with El Banco de la Unión of Bogotá —operated by the firm Palau, Corrales & Compañía—, this note belongs to a separate institution headquartered in Cartagena, a common occurrence when many regional banking houses adopted similar generic names.

Port iconography:The central vignette on the obverse, a three-masted sailboat sailing in the open sea, refers directly to the commercial and maritime vocation of Cartagena, the main Colombian port on the Caribbean during the 19th century.

Key Details Visible on the Banknote

• Header:“EL BANCO UNION” in ornate Gothic lettering, with “ONE PESO” and large ovals bearing the numeral “1” in both upper corners.
• Left vignette:a standing cherub holding allegorical objects within an ornamental frame.
• Central vignette:a three-masted sailing ship on the open sea, symbol of Cartagena's port trade, above the “OTRO / UNO” watermark superimposed on the design.
• Right vignette:profile portrait of a woman engraved within an oval.
• Text of the obligation:“Will pay the bearer on demand… the sum of One Peso in legal currency”, with the handwritten heading “Cartagena, 18…” and signature lines for “The 1º Director, Manager” and “The 2º Director”.
• Numbering:“N.° 66635” printed in red ink in the upper left corner.
• Reverse:complete guilloché in orange ink, with the header and footer “UN PESO”, two large ornamental ovals with the figure “1” on the sides, and a handwritten signature in the central oval next to the word “The Cashier”.
• Imprint:“American Bank Note Co., New York”, printed in small print on the lower margin of the front.

Additional Context

This specimen expands the representation of coastal free banking within the collection, together with the Bank of Barranquilla, and confirms how widespread the practice of private issuance of paper money was along the entire Colombian Caribbean coast during the last third of the 19th century.