Private issues

Generally the authorities were opposed to private issues. For instance, on 30 September 1914 the government issued a notice that it knew that certain businesses^{The notice was sent specifically to Luis H. y Hoyos, Andrés F. Schmidt (the manager of the Colima branch of the Banco Nacional de México), Francisco Brun, Carlos Schulte, Alberto Lepe and Miguel V. Alvarez though the attached letter suggested that these were to form a group to consider the shortage of change and to decide (1) whether this was due to money leaving the state or merely being hidden; (2) if such concealment was for causes or by means that could be removed by official action without violent extremes; and (3) if the need for fractional currency required the issue of bonds or some other solution. (AHEC, leg 847, 1914). Carlos Schulte owned the "La Bandera Mexicana", though, due to the economic uncertainty, he closed the business at the end of 1914 and laid off his 18 employees (AHMC, Sección "E", caja 70, exp. s/n, 1916. Carlos Schulte to the Presidente Municipal, Colima).} had issued vales o bonos for one centavo, arguing the absence of coins of this value. It ordered these notes to be withdrawn immediately, or the issuers would face punishment^{El Popular, Colima, Epoca Tercera, Núm. 67, 30 September 1914}. Elsewhere it was reported that the governor noted that various businesses, for their own account and at their own risk, had put large quantities of vales into circulation^{AHEC, leg 847, 1914 notice September 1914}, so there were probably other values. None are known but on 29 September J. D. León, of the Molinos de Nixtamal, had responded to a complaint that they were refusing to accept Constitutionalist notes. This, he said, was a slur. The truth was that as there was not enough fractional coinage it was impossible to give change^{El Popular, Colima, Epoca Tercera, Número 66, 29 September 1914} so perhaps the mills resorted to issuing vales.

It is also reported that the lack of coinage was such that Salvador Saucedo, the owner of the newspaper El Popular, on his own account and risk, issued 1c vales so people could buy his paper, but was quickly reprehended by the authorities^{AHEC, leg. 847, 1914}.

On 12 January 1915 various businesses wrote to the governor asking for permission to issue vales in small denominations in order to reactivate commercial activity, but this was denied^{AHEC, leg 871, 1915}.

However we do have a few instances from the first half of 1915.

Comala

Hacienda de San Antonio

The hacienda of San Antonio, in Comala, just 10 kilometres from the crater of the Volcán de Colima, was originally of 3,392 hectares. In a letter written to President Calles’ Secretary of Agriculture and Development, its owner, Arnoldo Vogel wrote "I appeal to the testimony of all the people who are and know the property, that from a land without cultivation, of thick mountains and without any means of irrigation, I have made the only large coffee plantation that exists in the state"^{Registro Agrario Nacional (Delegación Colima, Colima) exp. 023/002 letter Arnoldo Vogel to Luis León, 21 August 1925}.

This hacienda used round cartones to pay wages to its workers, either because of a lack of small change or because paying in vales tied the workers even more tightly to the hacienda and its company store (tienda de raya). This was a medium used by several haciendas in Jalisco and neighbouring states. The cartones have the denomination on the face and the same in Roman numerals (and often the hacienda’s brand) on the reverse. They usually carried the imprint “J.K.G” (for the printer, Juan Kaiser^{Juan Kaiser Schwab was born in Leusigen, Switzerland in 1858, and in 1881, at the age of twenty-three, sought his fortune in South America, travelling from Chile to Bolivia and from Peru to Panama. In 1887 he settled in Mexico City, and was employed by the stationers “La Helvetía”. At the end of that year, with his elder brother Arnoldo, he acquired a bookshop, “Al Libro Mayor”, in San Luis Potosí. In 1899 he moved to Guadalajara and founded “Al Libro de Caja,” dealing in printing, binding, office stationery and books in general. The Kaiser brothers were instrumental in introducing the picture postcard to San Luis Potosí and, probably, Guadalajara. Juan Kaiser died in 1916, and was succeeded by his son, Javier, who in time handed the business over to its employees and went to live in Switzerland, his ancestral home.} of Guadalajara) or some variation, and the number of the order (modelo) which allows the various issues to be dated.

Modelo 5200, which probably dated from the first quarter of 1915, was for five denominations (2c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c).

The 2c, 5c, 10c and 20c are also known on white pasteboard.

Hacienda de Nogueras

This was the second of four large sugar haciendas within the district of Comala, founded in 1704, and owned at this time by the Sociedad Vergal y Rangel, with Francisco M. Rangel as the manager.

As bearer cheques (cheques al portador) these circumvented the ban on private issues of currency, and these cheques carried revenue stamps on the reverse and the legend “Este Cheque será pagado conforme a las disposiciones del Código de Comercio”.

Colima

Luis H. y Hoyos

This was a similar series of bearer cheques for 25 centavos, 50 centavos and one peso drawn on the Colima branch of the Banco Occidental de México, dating from July 1915. Luis H. y Hoyos was the manager of the branch.

They have the hand signatures of [               ]^{[identification needed]} as Contador Cajero and J. Anuya as Sub-Contador and on the reverse have revenue stamps and the legend “Este Cheque será pagado conforme a las disposiciones del Código de Comercio”.

J. Anuya