In the year 1871, the President of the Sovereign State of Antioquia, General Pedro Alcantara Herran, proposed the creation of the bank. Then in the second debate don Felix de Villa, expert in law and Economics, and don Julian Vazquez Calle, a person who was very admired and respected in all social and business circles due to the maturity of his judgement, also intervened in favor of this project along with General Alcantara.

Law 194 authorized the Bank in 1871 in the Sovereign State of Antioquia. It is legally made up of the document No. 940, dated November 16, 1872, in the first Notary of Medellin, and with a capital of $694,500.00, contributed by 61 shoreholders, the majority of them being businessmen of Antioquia. The stocks were at a value of 500 gold pesos each one, and they would be covered as follows: 100 pesos cash and the remaining 400 should be backed with well known, unencumbered, and productive farm real estate. The Sovereign State of Antioquia would be an associate which would convert it to a semiofficial bank, closely linked to the public administration to which it had to finance frequently, although its Board was managed by the most powerful private partners.

The State of Asntioquia was one of the most profitable partners with the bank. In exchange for granted privileges, two months after beginning business, the bank granted the first credit to the State in the value of $57,000. The bank received as a guarantee a pledge on silver bars that the government had to mint. From that moment on, the demand for loans on the part of the State became more frequent to the point of granting them as a guarantee of credit, the documents granted in its favor by means of the rent monies of distilled liquors.

Another profitable partner with the bank was the Antioquia Railroad. In 1877 a credit was granted to Francisco Javier Cisneros for $54,000 for the culmination of the railway. This was a credit that was backed by the Medillin businessmen, that is to say, almost the same bank, since they were the main stockholders. They also managed the Directive Board, and they were interested so that this project might expand.

In 1872, the bank began operations, and its first manager was don Recaredo de Villa, a person known for his ability as a business administrator. He would later leave these responsibilities to become the President of the Sovereign State of Antioquia. IN 1876 he was brought down by the revolution and was exiled to Guatemala where, full of nostalgia for his homeland, he founded the Colombian Bank of Guatemala, which is a part of another story. Later on and for several years the Bank of Antioquia was managed by Francisco Antonio Alvarez, and finally in its liquidation by the Accountant Cashier don Eugenio Villegas Uribe. This bank would be the first establishment of its type in Antioquia. The bank would go out of business in 1892, and upon its liquidation all would pass into the hands of Jose Maria Meguizo.

With Law 194, The Sovereign State of Antioquia not only authorized the bank to issue banknotes but it also established itself likewise into a manager of the bearer of the banknotes. It promised them that if at the presentation of the banknotes at its office they could not be cashed, the government would do it at its revenue offices, covering them in metallic money, be it gold or silver. Likewise, it ordered that these banknotes might be admitted as current coin in all the offices of the State Ministry of Finance. It would convert the bank into the general cashier of the government's bank. It would be the exclusive depositor of all revenues that might be deposited in any way into the treasury.

The banknotes were practically unknown by the people of the State; in Antioquia only three references of said "documents" were known. The first ones that were known about were from the year 1861, and General Tomas Cipriano tried to make them circulate throughout the entire country without success. the second reference dealt with a few notes from the London Bank of Mexico and South America. The third dealt with the wealthiest members of the Corporation who, when they traveled to Europe, noted the great acceptance of the banknotes from different banks and governments on the part of the public. Besides, they were accepted as cancelation of their obligations of their trade with Jamaica.

The Bank of Antioquia was the first institution in the city that put banknotes into circulation in Medellin. the banknotes enjoyed great public acceptance to the point of being on par with metallic money. In many cases, it got to the point where they paid a 1% to 2% premium over the metallic currency due to the constant devaluations that the coin suffered in its circulation because they were adulterated; they were cut and the edges were filed, thus losing part of their intrinsic value.

From its founding the bank established a news service correspondence with the B. Forquete House in Paris and Stiebel Brothers in London. They were the firms that were in charge of selling the gold to the Bank of London, which constituted the main economic activity of the banks in Antioquia.

Source: Boletin 129, Club Notafflico Medellin, Asociacion Colombiana de Colleccionistas de Billet, Medellin, Colombia, Octubre, 1999.