Catalog
5 Pesos overprint
| Issuer | Banco de la República (Colombia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Oval portrait vignette of General José María Córdoba in military uniform at left centre, flanked by large numeral 5 guilloche panels on either side, with an intaglio vignette of a condor perched on a rocky outcrop at right. The serial number and series letter appear at upper left and lower right, with three facsimile signatures of the Junta de Conversión members printed along the lower margin. The design is rendered in green and black intaglio on a pink-tinted underprint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in red-orange and carries a large black overprint reading CERTIFICADO DE PLATA across the upper portion, with the text body arranged in five centred lines within an ornate guilloche border framework. A small heraldic vignette of the Colombian arms appears at the lower centre, framed by the legend REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA on a scroll cartouche. The background guilloche pattern incorporates large numeral 5 watermark-style impressions on either side. |
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| Comments |
Colombia's Banco de la República issued this note during a period of severe external pressure: the country had suspended gold convertibility in 1931 as the Great Depression drained reserves, and the overprint program was a direct administrative response to that dislocation. Rather than commission entirely new plates, the bank authorized ABNC to apply overprints to existing stock — a faster and cheaper route to putting reconfigured currency into circulation during a crisis year.
The ABNC connection here is unambiguous: New York was both the design source and the press.