Catalog
20 Centavos = 2 Reales
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Colombia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887 |
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| Value | 20 Centavos |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black on tan underprint, with an oval portrait vignette at lower left of a bearded gentleman in three-quarter view. The bank title 'EL BANCO NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA' runs in large ornate lettering across the upper portion, flanked by the numeral '20' within a guilloche circle at upper right and the Colombian coat of arms in an ornate cartouche at right center. The central text reads 'PAGARÁ AL PORTADOR A LA VISTA VEINTE CENTAVOS' with the place and date 'BOGOTÁ 1 DE ENERO DE 1887' below, accompanied by three manuscript signatures above their respective printed title designations. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse is dominated by two large interlocking oval guilloche rosettes of great intricacy, with the numeral '2' at top center flanked by the inscription 'DOS REALES' on either side. A decorative red-brown overprint overlays the central guilloche work. A manuscript signature above the printed designation 'CAJERO' appears at lower center, with the printer's imprint 'The Homer Lee Bank Note Co. N.Y.' at the bottom margin. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de Colombia was a state-owned institution created in 1880 by the Regeneración government under Rafael Núñez, explicitly to fund public expenditure through paper money — a policy that triggered sustained inflation and eventually the catastrophic monetary collapse of the 1890s. This fractional note, denominated in the transitional dual notation of centavos and reales, was issued during the brief window when Colombia still officially maintained both scales before the centavo system displaced the older colonial reckoning entirely.
Homer Lee Bank Note Co. was a smaller New York security printer that handled several Latin American contracts during this period, operating in the shadow of larger competitors like American Bank Note Company. Their work on this series is competent but less celebrated.