COP – Colombian Peso
Monetary System
1810: 1 Colombian peso (COP) = 100 centavos
Bank of the Republic
Banco de la República
The Banco de la República (Spanish: Bank of the Republic, BDR) issued many families of notes from various printers over long periods of time, often overlapping disparate designs for some denominations. Rather than follow a strict chronological approach, the following listings are grouped into families based upon design similarities.
For more information, visit www.banrep.gov.co.
2014 – 2018 Issues
Despite years of planning to remove three zeros from the currency, in 2016 the Banco de la República Colombia introduced a new family of notes in denominations of 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 pesos. The 100,000-peso denomination is new.
The new family of banknotes gives continuity to the concept of biodiversity present in the family of coins that began circulating in June 2012, while highlighting a group of cultural elements and landscapes of our geography which have become symbols of the Colombian wealth, variety, and creativity. Additionally, it pays tribute to major characters of the country’s culture, science, and politics, and reinforces recognition of women’s role in the Colombian society.
The new banknotes share special characteristics. They incorporate inks and security threads of vivid colors with color changing and movement effects to facilitate their identification. Also, they serve to address more adequately the needs of the visually impaired thanks to differentiation in their sizes and the incorporation of touch-sensitive elements.
Description: 2,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 128 x 66 mm
Blue. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark blue-to-light blue OVI; BRC as registration device; bird (from Pérez’s painting “Las Monjas y El Cardenal”) as registration device; lechoso (Perebea xanthochyma) tree leaves and fruit in cooper-to-green OVI; 13 de junio; artist Débora Arango Pérez standing; La bailarina Guillermina; Débora Arango Pérez close-up. Back: Spanish text; Caño Cristales, the beautiful river of five colors, located in the Sierra de la Macarena; various birds in flight; text of an interview of Débora Arango Pérez from the book Débora en plural; Liberty head bank seal. Fuschia-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRC and birds. Watermark: Débora Arango Pérez and electrotype 2. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. 128 x 66 mm. Paper.
Description: 5,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 133 x 66 mm
Brown. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark brown-to-light brown OVI; BRC as registration device; Abejorro (bumblebee) as registration device; Puya plant in cooper-to-green OVI; poet José Asunción Silva. Back: Spanish text; spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) walking on four legs with Andean condor flying above mountainous landscape of Páramos de Colombia Fuentes de Agua with frailejón plants; Abejorro (bumblebee); José Asunción Silva’s poem “Melancolía;” Liberty head bank seal. Fuschia-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRC and bumblebees. Watermark: José Asunción Silva and electrotype 5. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. 133 x 66 mm. Paper.
Description: 10,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 138 x 66 mm
Red. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark red-to-light red OVI; BRC as registration device; Queen Victoria’s water lily (Victoria amazonica) flower as registration device; Rana Arborícola (Hypsiboas granosus) tree frog; anthropologist Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda standing, holding book; Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda close-up. Back: Spanish text; leaves; snake; turtle; caiman; Amazon River; fish; man holding pole in canoe; Victoria regia water lily flower; text from Virginia Gutiérrez’s book Familia y cultura en Colombia; Liberty head bank seal. Fuschia-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRCand flowers. Watermark: Virginia Gutiérrez and electrotype 10. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. 138 x 66 mm. Paper.
Description: 20,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 143 x 66 mm
Orange. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark green-to-light green OVI; BRC as registration device; sugar-apple (Annona squamosa) in green-to-blue SPARK Orbit; Zenú earring as registration device; president Alfonso López Michelsen, standing with hat in hand, and close-up giving speech. Back: Spanish text; sombrero vueltiao (turned hat); standing farmer wearing hat, carrying sheaf of caña flecha (Gynerium sagittatum); canals at La Mojana where the Zenú people settled; Zenú earring; Benjamin Puche Villadiego poem about sombrero vueltiao; Liberty head bank seal. Solid security thread and yellow-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRC and Zenú earring. Watermark: Alfonso López Michelsen and electrotype 20. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. 143 x 66 mm. Paper.
Description: 50,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 148 x 66 mm
Purple. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark blue-to-light blue OVI; BRC as registration device; Colibrí piquicorto (Ramphomicron dorsale) hummingbird and flower in green-to-blue SPARK Orbit; nautilus shell as registration device; Nobel prize in literature winner, Gabriel García Márquez, standing with butterflies and close-up. Back: Spanish text; two standing natives; Ciudad Perdida, the heart of the Tayrona culture in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta; burgao (nautilus shell); Liberty head bank seal. Solid security thread and yellow-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRC. Watermark: Gabriel García Márquez and electrotype 50. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. 148 x 66 mm. Paper.
Description: 100,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 153 x 66 mm
Green. Front: Spanish text; denomination in dark green-to-light green OVI; BRC as registration device; Barranquero bird (Momotus momota aequatorialis) as registration device; Sietecueros blossom (Tibouchina lepidota) in green-to-blue SPARK Orbit; El Bachiller Cleofás Pérez y Hefestos (pseudonym used by Lleras during his time as journalist); Carlos Lleras Restrepo. Back: Spanish text; wax palms (Ceroxylon quindiuense), the national tree, in Valle de Cocora, Quindío; Barranquero bird; Luis Vidales’s poem about wax palm; Liberty head bank seal. Solid security thread and yellow-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized BRC and bird. Watermark: Carlos Lleras Restrepo and electrotype 100. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA.153 x 66 mm. Paper.
2000 – 2014 Issues
The 1,000- and 50,000-peso notes are entirely new denominations, while the other denominations are like the preceding issues, but with new Liberty head bank seal and printer imprints.
Description: 1,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Orange and brown. Front: Spanish text; square symbol for blind; scales registration device; crowd as seen from Nutibara hotel in Medellín; Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala. Back: Spanish text; Gaitán quote and signature; Liberty head bank seal; crowd; Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala waving hat, announcing presidential candidacy in Bogotá; scales; flowers. Solid security thread with demetalized BR COLOMBIA. Watermark: Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 1,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 130 x 65 mm
Orange and brown. Front: Spanish text; square symbol for blind; scales registration device; crowd as seen from Nutibara hotel in Medellín; Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala. Back: Spanish text; Gaitán quote and signature; Liberty head bank seal; crowd; Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala waving hat, announcing presidential candidacy in Bogotá; scales; flowers. Solid security thread with demetalized BR COLOMBIA. Watermark: Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA. 130 x 65 mm. Paper.
Description: 2,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Green, blue, and orange. Front: Spanish text; coat of arms registration device; bird flying over marsh; Francisco de Paula Santander wearing military uniform. Back: Spanish text; Liberty head bank seal; Casa de Moneda (mint) building and reinforced door; coat of arms. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 2000. Watermark: Francisco de Paula Santander and electrotype fancy script S. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 2,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 130 x 65 mm
Orange, green, blue, and yellow. Front: Spanish text; coat of arms registration device; triangle symbol for blind; bird flying over marsh; Francisco de Paula Santander wearing military uniform. Back: Spanish text; Liberty head bank seal; Casa de Moneda (mint) building and reinforced door; coat of arms registration device. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 2000. Watermark: Francisco de Paula Santander and electrotype fancy script S. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA. 130 x 65 mm. Paper.
Description: 5,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Green, brown, and yellow. Front: Spanish text; frog on lily pad; trees; poet José Asunción Silva; winged termite. Back: Spanish text; quill; floral decoration; woman in grove with moon and pedestal with microprinted text from Silva’s poem, Nocturno (Night); Liberty head bank seal. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 5000. Watermark: José Asunción Silva. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 10,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Brown, green, and orange. Front: Spanish text; Policarpa Salavarrieta. Back: Spanish text; goat, people, and sheep in village of Guaduas from Edward Walhouse Mark’s 1846 painting, “Escena de Mercado;” Liberty head bank seal. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 10000. Watermark: Policarpa Salavarrieta. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 20,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Violet, green, and tan. Front: Spanish text; moon; hexagon green-to-gold OVI patch; astronomer Julio Garavito Armero. Back: Spanish text; Liberty head bank seal; geometric shapes; selenite craters on moon surface; earth as seen from moon. Solid security thread and windowed security thread with demetalized VEINTE MIL PESOS. Watermark: Julio Garavito Armero. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 50,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Purple, green, orange, and blue. Front (vertical): Spanish text; María monument in Cali of seated woman with book; Cauca Valley landscape, crossed by the Cauca river; open book as registration device; Jorge Isaacs. Back (vertical): Spanish text; Jorge Isaacs; Liberty head bank seal; text from Isaacs’ novel, María; samán and palm trees; El Paraíso, country house setting of novel, María; open book. Solid security thread and windowed security thread with demetalized 50 MIL PESOS COLOMBIA. Watermark: Jorge Isaacs and electrotype 50MIL. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
1995 – 1999 Issues
These notes feature completely new designs for all denominations.
Description: 2,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Green, blue, and orange. Front: Spanish text; coat of arms registration device; bird flying over marsh; Francisco de Paula Santander wearing military uniform. Back: Spanish text; cornucopia bank seal; Casa de Moneda (mint) building and reinforced door; coat of arms registration device. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 2000. Watermark: Francisco de Paula Santander and electrotype fancy script S. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — SANTA FE DE BOGOTA. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 5,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Green, brown, and yellow. Front: Spanish text; frog on lily pad; trees; poet José Asunción Silva; firefly. Back: Spanish text; quill; floral decoration; woman in grove with moon and pedestal with microprinted text from Silva’s poem, Nocturno (Night); quill; cornucopia bank seal. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 5000. Watermark: José Asunción Silva. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 10,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Brown, green, and orange. Front: Spanish text; Policarpa Salavarrieta. Back: Spanish text; goat, people, and sheep in village of Guaduas from Edward Walhouse Mark’s 1846 painting, “Escena de Mercado;” cornucopia bank seal. Two solid security threads, one plain and one with demetalized BRC 10000. Watermark: Policarpa Salavarrieta. Printer: Varieties. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
Description: 20,000.00 COP – Colombian Peso Size: 140 x 70 mm
Violet, green, and tan. Front: Spanish text; moon; hexagon green-to-gold OVI patch; astronomer Julio Garavito Armero. Back: Spanish text; cornucopia bank seal; geometric shapes; selenite craters on moon surface; earth. Solid security thread and windowed security thread with demetalized VEINTE MIL PESOS. Watermark: Julio Garavito Armero. Printer: IMPRENTA DE BILLETES — SANTA FE DE BOGOTA. 140 x 70 mm. Paper.
