Catalog
10 Pesos Oro
| Issuer | Banco de la República |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio-printed portrait of Antonio Nariño in an oval vignette at right, rendered in dark brown tones against a multicolour guilloche underprint with large numeral 10 counters at left and upper corners. The central panel carries the denomination in bold letterpress, with series letter D flanking both sides and serial numbers in red. Date and place of issue, Bogota, Colombia, 20 de Julio de 1923, appear below the central vignette, with two signature lines for El Gerente and El Secretario. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | El Banco de la Republica Pagará al Portador Diez Pesos Oro (Translation: The Bank of the Republic Will pay to the Bearer Ten Pesos Oro) |
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| Comments |
Colombia's Banco de la República was established in 1923 — the same year this note was issued — as part of a sweeping monetary reform recommended by the Kemmerer Mission, the U.S. financial advisory team led by Princeton economist Edwin Kemmerer. The bank replaced a chaotic system of private and departmental issuance that had plagued the country since the nineteenth century, and these early ABNC-printed notes were quite literally the first centralized paper currency Colombia had ever produced.
American Bank Note Company held the contract from the outset, and the quality of engraving reflects their top-tier work of the period. The Pesos Oro denomination was explicit policy — a direct anchoring of the currency to a gold standard written into the bank's founding charter.