El Banco de Zacatecas

The Banco de Zacatecas, granted a concession on 3 March 1891, was founded on 25 May 1891 by Jesus and Antonio Garcia, Rafael Villalpando and Luis Macias with a capital of $600,000 and began operating on 8 December of the same year. Most of the founding members were men of lineage, well-known business men, merchants and land ownersThe first board were Genaro García, as presidente, Luis Macías, Rafael Villalpando, Enrique Hatchandy, Cayetano Arteaga, Jaime G. Würst, Leopoldo Viadero, Francisco Pérez, Agustín G. González and Luan Breña. Strangely enough, over a dozen of the shareholders also owned shares in the Compañía Guanajuatense-Zacatecana which was the last private enterprise that leased the Zacatecas Mint (1876-1895).

From the beginning of the armed movement in 1910 until the end of 1913 Zacatecas did not suffer serious conflict. Nonetheless, at the beginning of 1914 the winds of war began to blow across the mountainous regions of Zacatecas and with the approach of the revolutionary forces the board took the decision on 2 June 1914 to close the head offices and move to Mexico City.

On 8 December 1915, following an investigation into the bank's finances, the Comisión Reguladora e Inspectora de Instituciones de Crédito declared that the bank was within the terms set by the Ley General and would keep its concession.

The bank was finally liquidated in 1930.

ANBC print runs

The bank issued notes in seven denominations ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and $500) printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York. All of them bear a vignette (C 181) of Francisco Garcia Salinas (governor from 1828 to 1834) on the face as well as different allegories and rural or industrial scenes. The ABNC engraved special vignettes of "oxen ploughing" (C 438) and "a view of a mining district" (C 441). For the backs the ABNC engraved a special vignette of the Cerro de la Bufa (C 439).

Zacatecas 500 996

Zacatecas 500 996 reverse

The American Bank Note Company's print runs were:

Date Value Number Series from to
June 1891 $1 50,000   1 50000
$5 30,000   1 30000
$10 10,000   1 10000
$20 5,000   1 5000
$50 1,000   1 1,000
$100 500   1 500
$500 200   1 200

 

Date Value Number Series from to
May 1897 $20 5,000   5001 10000
$50 3,000   1001 4000
$100 1,500   501 2000
$500 200   201 400

 

Date Value Number Series from to
December 1902 $5 30,000   30001 60000
$10 21,500   10001 31500
$20 3,000   10001 13000
$50 4,000   4001 8000
$100 1,500   2001 3500
$500 250   401 650

 

Date Value Number Series from to
May 1913 $5 50,000   60001 110000
$10 20,000   31501 51500
$20 1,000   13001 14000
$50 1,600   8001 9600
$100 3,000   3501 6500
$500 500   651 1150

Signatures

Consejero

Enriquet Aubert sig Aubert
Francisco Hinojosa sig Hinojosa
Luis Macías was a businessman, of the Sociedad Mercantil Luis Macías é Hijosthey were Flavio, José, Constantino and Emilia Macías Torres, who later married Pedro Larrassiette, asnother investor in the bank. sig Macias
Antonio G. GarcÍa was the brother of Genaro García, and president of the bank from 1900 to 1906. sig A Garcia
José L. García was a wealthy Zacatecan landowner established in Aguascalientes and shareholder in the Compañía Telefónica de Aguascalientes, which established a line between Zacatecas and Aguascalientes in 1901. sig J Garcia
Cayetano Arteaga sig Arteaga
Julian Torres sig Torres
Rafael Villalpando sig Villapando
  sig Consejero g
  sig Consejero q

Cajero

Enrique Reyes sig Reyes
Genaro E. Kimball sig Kimball
  sig Cajero t
M. A. de la Pascua sig Cajero v
Santiago sig Santiago
Luis Ibargüengoytia sig L Ibarguengoytia

Interventor

Francisco de P. Zárate sig Zarate
Joaquín Ismael Ibargüengoytia sig J Ibarguengoytia
M. Esparza sig Esparza

Other personages

Genaro García Valdez, who was born in Fresnillo on 17 August 1867, arranged the concession, convened the first meeting and arranged matters with the central institutions. His family held a majority of the shares and rented the bank its offices. He was president from the bank’s establishment until 1900, when he handed over to his brother Antonio. He resumed the presidency in 1906.

Genaro also sat on the board of the Banco Occidental de México in Sinaloa.

Genaro was an alternate federal deputy for Zacatecas from 1892 to 1894, deputy from 1894 to 1912, and governor from 1900 to 1904. He died on 26 November 1920.