World coins chat: Colombia

The country that is now Colombia was known as New Granada during Spanish colonial times. At that time it was using the Spanish colonial Real. An independence war led by Simon Bolivar was fought between 1809 and 1820, after which the Republic of Gran Colombia was declared, which was a union of Ecuador, New Grenada, Panama and Venezuela. The Real continued to be used by this new state.

Already in 1830 Ecuador and Venezuela seceded and the country was known as the Republic of New Granada. In 1858 it was again renamed to the Granadine Confederation and in 1863 into the United States of Colombia, before the Republic of Colombia was declared in 1886. Panama seceded in 1903 under American influence.

The Peso was introduced in 1810, divided into 8 Reales. In 1847 the Peso was decimalised in 10 Reales, with 10 Decimos de Real worth a Real. Centavos existed only on some banknotes until it appeared on coins from 1871.

The Peso was fixed to 5 French Francs in 1871, but this only lasted until 1886. In 1888, the gold Peso was fixed to sterling at a rate of 5 Pesos, which was very similar in value to the French peg, but paper currency was allowed to depreciate. Nickel Peso p/m coins exist from that era. In 1910, the Peso Oro replaced the paper Peso for 100 to 1, and this was again in line with the old Peso in terms of precious metal.

When Britain left the gold standard in 1931, the Peso was pegged to USD at a rate of 1.05 per $. This lasted until after World War 2. In 1950 there were 2 Pesos in a Dollar, and an era with chronic inflation started. By 1965, the rate was 10 per $, and by 1980 this was 50 per $. In 1990 it was 500 per $ and in 2003 it reached a high at almost 3000. Since then the Colombian enjoyed stability and there are now 2500 COP in 1 USD. Plans for a 1000 to 1 redenomination have not yet materialized.

Colombia used silver and gold in their coins until shortly after WW2. The coins from after that period are easy to find, although I don't see some of the 80's types as often as one would expect. The newest 2012 series are quite nice in design and detail.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/colombie-1.html

I have always find interesting how they haven't applied the 1000:1 change. It is weird when you see TV shows and they talk about thousands of millions and it turns out it isn't as much as it sounds. Reminds me of the last months of our old peso; we still have some filed receipts in old pesos and they look impressive; like 2'500,000 Pesos in the mall and such.

Quote: jokinenThe newest 2012 series are quite nice in design and detail.

This series won the "Best circulating coin/coin series" of 2013 award, by the IACA

The only coin I own from Colombia seems so ugly that I have a few doubts about its authenticity.

Maybe I should add a pic, but I know this one should already be demonetized.

Quote: chomp-masterThe only coin I own from Colombia seems so ugly that I have a few doubts about its authenticity.

Maybe I should add a pic, but I know this one should already be demonetized.

I have a few (13), haven't been able to trade with a Colombian user to increase that number. My oldest is from 1920, my most recent from 1995, so I am quite short there on the newest ones, if I can't swap I'll just buy the new set for 10$ on eBay shipping included.

Concerning the ugly coin that you can't almost tell where is it from, reminds me of my first Cuban coin, a 1 Centavo coin with a thick rust crust, funny enough, the "rust" was in fact Coral or limestone (coral sound cooler as it comes from an island) so I tossed it to the floor and the crust broke like an egg, and inside a pretty decent looking coin  

I've got 94  and 206 doubles.  Unfortunately, a lot of them are in a bad shape. I was there for my work for several weeks in 1988, so I brought them myself right out of circulation, but decent specimens were very hard to find. Most of them were real bad. Especially the 2, 5 and 10 pesos from around that period. The 2 and 5 pesos were mostly ugly, with a strange reddish color, the 10 pesos were mostly very worn. Lucky I found a few nice ones too so the coins in my collection are mostly nice but my doubles mostly aren't.
So chomp-master, yours is probably the same as a lot of mine. Authentic, but ugly and worn.

Mine was a 20 centavos 1963.

I actually own a quite nice 2 1/2 centavos from the 1880's. In total I have 32 types, but no silvers.

I like the design of colombian coins and I have always wanted to own some colonials from there but I have never found any for sale.

It's true, the latest Colombian series is a big improvement. Just compare:






I think people often ignore Colombian coins because the series from 1989 to 2012 is a crime against good design, which is unfair. The earlier modern issues from Colombia are quite unique and have an interesting aesthetic.

Quote: kolikko99I like the design of colombian coins and I have always wanted to own some colonials from there but I have never found any for sale.

Those coins are a "pain for the pocket" to obtain. They reach values above the thousands of US dollars

Quote: solis1992

Quote: kolikko99I like the design of colombian coins and I have always wanted to own some colonials from there but I have never found any for sale.

Those coins are a "pain for the pocket" to obtain. They reach values above the thousands of US dollars

I guess you mean in excellent condition, because I have seen lots and lots of F or lower grade Colombia Reales coins for $50 to $100.

I've 16 types, ranging from 1935 till now. The 2012 BU set look quite nice, imo. But, yeah... 1984-2008 coins - just ugly.

Quote: erdvillaI guess you mean in excellent condition, because I have seen lots and lots of F or lower grade Colombia Reales coins for $50 to $100.

Well, that is also true.

But in my personal opinion I wouldn't spend not even $100 on F to lower condition coins, of course there are infinite ways of collecting and personal tastes.

Colombia is a country relatively close to me, yet I don't have many coins from them. I only have 15 types.

My favorite coins I own from Colombia are:

I like this one



Circulated only 1 year commemorating the Pan-American games taking place in Cali, Colombia

There is also a 25 centavos coin from 1979 (KM #267). I'll take advantage of this forum topic to shamelessly promote my blog posts about this coin in Spanish and English.

I live in Colombia. I've been able to get at spot a few commemorative proofs with dings/scratches — but at spot.

I started collecting Colombian coins when i just started getting back in to collecting. Now it been back a few years. I find Colombia to have a very rich history with coins. Right now i have 51 types and 189 coins. My oldest is from 1877. I;am hopeing to be over 200 this year.

I have 332 different coins from Colombia, went there for my firm twice, each time 2 months. I also have 6 from the lepro territories. I have documented all these coins

Yes, I have had some fun😉