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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Colombia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952-1953 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Centavos (0.20 COP) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A bare-headed, draped bust of Simon Bolivar in left-facing profile occupies the central field, rendered in finely detailed high relief with naturalistically modeled hair. The denomination legend VEINTE is inscribed along the left periphery and CENTAVOS along the right periphery, flanking the portrait on either side. The design is uncluttered, with a plain field framing the effigy, and the reeded border is visible at the rim. |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Colombia's shift to billon for this issue reflected the broader postwar silver shortage that forced dozens of Latin American mints to debase subsidiary coinage through the late 1940s and early 1950s. At .300 fine, the metal value was kept well below face value by design — a lesson the Banco de la República had learned painfully from the hoarding that accompanied earlier higher-silver issues. The timing also coincided with La Violencia, the civil conflict that ravaged the country between 1948 and 1958, during which normal economic infrastructure was severely disrupted across rural regions.