Department of Antioquia
Two departmental vouchers: ten cents (1961) and twenty cents (1901)
Ten Cent Voucher · 1961
Series VII · Medellín, January 1961
Historical and Issue Context
A voucher from the Department itself:unlike private bank drafts, this 1961 voucher was issued directly by the administration of the Department of Antioquia, with the signatures of the Secretary of Finance, the Undersecretary and the General Administrator of the Treasury.
Amortizable with future income:The text on the front specifies that the voucher is “ amortizable with income from the Department of the next four-year period ”, that is, a short-term debt instrument backed by the departmental tax revenues of the four years following its issuance — the same mechanism used six decades earlier in the 1901 voucher.
Local printing:produced by the Imprenta Departamental de Medellín using basic typographic resources rather than by an international security printer.
Key Details Visible on the Banknote
- Obverse:Simple typographic design with geometric borders on both sides, serial number stamped in blue ink, and the issue text: “Vale TEN CENTS. Amortizable with income from the Department of the next four years. Medellín, January 1961.”
- Printed signatures:“For Srio. of the Treasury, the Undersecretary”, with the reference “Serie VII” and the departmental imprint.
- Reverse:symmetrical frame with the repeated denomination “TEN CENTAVOS / 10 / CENTAVOS” in black ink on pale red subprint, and the signature of “The General Administrator of the Treasury”.
- Simplified guilloche edges:fine-line patterns around the margins, a basic visual safeguard against early duplication-based counterfeiting.
- Mechanical numbering:serial matrix in blue ink, stamped with an independent mechanical numberer after printing.
- Color:orange-brown tone with black text and pale-red underprint.
Twenty Cent Voucher · 1901
Series X · Medellín, January 1901 · Thousand Days' War
Historical and Issue Context
Emergency paper during the civil war:This voucher was issued in January 1901, at the height of the Thousand Days' War (1899–1902), when the uncontrolled issuance of paper money by the National Bank to finance the conflict led Colombia to hyperinflation that reached 389% in 1901, with an average rate of more than 100% annually between 1900 and 1903.1
Backed by the departmental treasury:The text on the obverse specifies that the voucher is “charged to the Department of Antioquia”, accepted “in all types of transactions”, and “redeemable from the proceeds of the next four-year revenue period” —a short-term departmental debt mechanism intended to ease the wartime currency shortage.
The Issuance Office:The purple seal superimposed on the reverse, with the legend “Issue Office”, corresponds to the departmental administrative control over the circulation of this emergency paper.
Key Details Visible on the Banknote
- Obverse:detailed decorative frame with the complete legal declaration: “Worth TWENTY CENTS payable by the Department of Antioquia. It is received in all types of transactions, and will be amortized with the proceeds of the next four years of income. Medellín, January 1901.”
- Reverse:elaborate geometric lattice with a central rosette in purple ink; a large “20” sits within a decorative shield, flanked by “VEINTE CENTAVOS” and the purple seal of the Issuing Office.
- Six-digit numbering:stamped after printing in dark blue ink, for accounting control of the issue.
- Intricate Guilloche:repeating circular patterns on the reverse, a basic safeguard against early chemical or photographic counterfeiting.
- Color:frame in black ink over complex reddish-purple subprint on verso.
Notes
1. National Museum of Colombia, “Pieces in Dialogue” (December 2017–March 2018): the Banco Nacional’s rapid monetary expansion during the Thousand Days’ War raised average inflation above 100% annually between 1900 and 1903, peaking at 389% in 1901 (Hernández, 2001, p. 84).