Catalog
50 Centavos 2nd. issue
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de la República de Colombia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A bicolour lithograph executed in black and blue-green, with the Colombian national arms as a vignette at upper right and the serial number overprinted in red. The typographic layout presents the issuer legend and denomination text in a formal arrangement across the face, below which four manuscript signatures appear in ink. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse centres on an elaborate guilloche rosette with the numeral "50" at its core, enclosed by concentric floral lathe-work panels and repeating denomination counters at each corner. The bank title arcs across the upper field in bold letterpress, with "CINCUENTA CENTAVOS" along the lower border, and a red circular official seal applied at lower right. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de la República de Colombia had a troubled existence by 1900 — Congress had already voted to liquidate it in 1894, but the institution limped on issuing fractional currency well into the War of a Thousand Days, the catastrophic civil conflict that erupted in October 1899. These small-denomination emissions were driven by acute coin shortages as the war drained metal from circulation. The "2nd issue" designation distinguishes this from earlier Banco Nacional fractional notes of the same value, though the differences between issues are subtle enough that misattribution is common.
Printing by Schroeder's Bogotá shop kept production entirely domestic — unusual given how much Colombian paper currency of this period was contracted abroad.