THE BANKNOTES OF COLOMBIA
Banknote expert Jonathan Callaway continues his world tour, stopping off in South America to examine Colombia’s colourful paper money
It should be no surprise that the yellow-blue-red flag of Colombia is so similar to those of its neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela – the three were once a single country, named Gran (Greater) Colombia which had claimed independence from Spain in 1819. By 1830 the three had gone their separate ways and in 1903 Panama also split from Colombia.
The first paper money issues reflect the complexity of these early years. The first government notes were issued by the Republica de Colombia, then the Estados Unidos de Neuva Granada and, from 1885, the Banco Nacional de Colombia. At the same time there was a huge range of regional and private bank issues in the years up to 1923 and a rash of local issues during and after the civil war of 1899 to 1902.
In 1923 the Banco de la Republica, as the state bank was
now called, issued its first Peso Oro, or Gold Peso, in a successful effort to stabilise the economy and the currency. Our story will focus on these and subsequent issues, the more modern of which are more likely to be available to collectors.
The 1923 notes, attractively designed by the American Bank Note Company (ABNC), are hard to find and much sought after. The series ranged from 1 to 500 Pesos Oro and were unusual in that in addition to the two signatures on the front there was also one on the back. Each note featured a portrait of a significant military or political figure in Colombia’s struggle for freedom. In 1926 new notes were designed, again featuring historic heroes including Simón Bolívar, perhaps the most famous of the South American ‘Liberators’.
In 1927 the British firm of Thomas De La Rue & Co won the contract to design and print the 5, 10 and 20 Pesos Oro notes but their role did not last long and ABNC returned. The 1929 ABNC series started with a new lower value of ½ Peso Oro, with the range extending through to
500 Pesos Oro. These designs were very similar to the earlier ABNC issue but the third signature on the back was dropped. They lasted rather longer, until 1964. Such a long series inevitably contained many date and signature varieties which are an attraction for many collectors. Confusingly, however, alongside these gold pesos the bank started a parallel issue of silver certificates for 1 and 5 Pesos Plata during the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1953 the bank decided it was time for a brand new issue of Pesos Oro though the earlier 1929 design remained in issue, so both circulated in parallel. All this must have been very confusing for the public whose trust in paper money had never fully been restored after the failure of many private banks before their notes were finally banned in 1923. The new 1953 series was split between three printers, with Waterlow & Sons preparing the 1 Peso Oro notes, De La Rue the 5, 10 and 20 while the higher values from 50 to 500 Pesos Oro were printed by ABNC.
Interestingly, the 500 Pesos Oro was originally issued in green but had to be replaced after a huge robbery in 1973. The new notes were the same design but in red, however another robbery in 1977 led to the design being replaced altogether. This design was one of the first to feature a historic or archaeological scene on the back, in this case the underground salt
cathedral of Zipaquirá carved out of an old salt mine in 1932.
1959 saw the start of an entirely new series with the lower values printed by the Spanish firm Imprenta de Billetes while others were printed by De La Rue and ABNC. The different values came in progressively over several years culminating with the first 1,000 Pesos Oro note introduced in 1979 – a sign that inflation was beginning to erode the value of the currency.
From 1981 the notes were again redesigned and now a 2,000 Pesos Oro note was added. Inflation in Colombia never reached the heights achieved in recent years by its close neighbour Venezuela (where nobody can be quite sure how bad it got with estimates of anywhere between 180,000% and 1,000,000% p.a. in 2018-19). Colombia’s peak inflation rate came in 1977 at 42%, certainly high enough, and in the years that followed progressively higher denominations were issued to keep pace. The smaller notes inevitably disappeared as they became effectively worthless. Some were replaced by coins and today the smallest coin is the 50 Pesos.
In 1986 the first 5,000 Pesos
Oro note was issued – to recognise the centennial of the 1886 constitution and featuring Rafael Nunez, the president who ushered in the new law.
Another commemorative followed in 1992, this time the first ever 10,000 Pesos Oro note issued on the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas. This note was notable in two other ways – it was the first time a female had featured on a Colombian banknote (with the caption ‘Mujer Embera’, i.e. a female from the indigenous Embera tribe) and the last note to be issued in Pesos Oro before the ‘Oro’ was dropped – in recognition of the reality that the currency had long since stopped being backed by gold. In 1995 she was replaced on that denomination by Policarpa
Salavarrieta, a female hero of the revolution against Spanish rule who was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1817.
In 2000 the first note was issued on which the final three zeroes of the denomination were dropped – now all notes are designated ‘Mil Pesos’ (Thousand Pesos) and the smallest note is currently 2 Mil Pesos. This 50 Mil Pesos note is so far the only Colombian note to appear in vertical format.
The currency has not technically been re-denominated, as many in high-inflation countries have been, but there seem to be plans finally to do just that. Meanwhile a new denomination appeared in 2014, the 100 Mil Pesos which is for now the highest to be issued. Its face value was about US$27 in September 2020.
Colombian notes have long featured figures from the country’s history, with revolutionary heroes frequently appearing. Simón Bolívar probably features more than most. He is lauded as the Liberator not just of Colombia but also Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and naturally Bolivia. He was also the first president of Gran Colombia before it split into three.
Of the several generals who made it on to Colombian notes one, General Francisco de Paula Santander, was a close associate of Bolivar known as ‘El Hombre de las Leyes’ (The Man of the Laws) from his time as president, and another, General Antonio Nariño, was his political opponent but nevertheless became one of the country’s political heroes.
In more recent years there has been an effort to select portraits representing a wider range of Colombian society, so a poet, an astronomer, an artist, an anthropologist and a Nobel Prize winner, the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, have appeared on notes.
The banknotes of Colombia offer a rich insight into a diverse country with a complex and turbulent history. Many of the notes are inexpensive and easy to find, though of course the earlier issues are more challenging.