1/2 Peso

The Banco de la República's half-peso denomination had a peculiar economic life in mid-1940s Colombia — by 1946 it functioned largely as a fractional substitute in rural transactions where coin shortages were chronic, rather than as a note with meaningful urban circulation. ABNC printed the series in New York under the long-standing contract that covered most of Colombia's higher-security issues through this period.

Pick 397 is among the shorter-lived formats in the series; the half-peso denomination was eliminated as inflationary pressure made it economically redundant within a few years of this issue.