ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the development of the Colombian banking system from 1871, when the first successful commercial bank was established, to the foundation of the central bank, Banco de la República, in 1923. These years are rich in events for the students of monetary and banking history: there was a period of free banking (1871-86); a near hyperinflation (1899-1902); a monopoly of note issue (1887-1909); and a period in which there was no institution which could issue bank notes (1910-22).1 Each period is now considered in turn.
