Colombia · Banco de la República · Imprenta de Billetes
10 pesos oro note, 1980
10 pesos oro · Series AZ · 1980
A Series AZ ten-peso oro, Pick 407h: low serial 00000100, 7 August 1980. This record gathers the face and back of the same unslabbed note. It is not the ordinary 1980 407g without a series letter, nor the asterisk replacement of the same date (Hernández 209), nor this case’s 1979 407g.
Catalog facts
- Pick reference
- P# 407h · TBB B950o
- Serial number
- 00000100
- Signatures
- Rafael Gama Quijano (gerente) and Francisco José Ortega (secretario)
- Condition
- Unslabbed · toning and foxing visible in the photographs
- Printage
- Imprenta de Billetes, Bogotá. Banco de la República circulation issue; date on the note 7 August 1980. Eight digits with the legend “SERIE AZ” printed twice on the face — at mid-left and at upper right — above each red serial. González White 2019 (pp. 67–68) titles the DIEZ PESOS 1975 a 1980 AZ spread and notes that, among #179–#209, only #209 carries a series; the OCR jumbles BG# against dates, and this record does not publish a guessed BG#. Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers the “1980, Serie AZ” row as Cód. 208 — Numista concurs Hernández 208, P# 407h, and TBB B950o. Distinct from the ordinary 7 August 1980 without a series letter (Pick 407g / TBB B950n / Hernández 207) and from the asterisk replacement of the same date (TBB B950nr / Hernández 209). Serial 00000100 is low: value 100 on eight digits, with five leading zeros; it does not prove this was the hundredth note physically printed. Published size: 140 × 70 mm. No security thread and no watermark. BanRep’s 1980 table records 65.45 million 10-peso notes: all production of that face value that year, not the Series AZ printage or this date’s printage.
Face
Back
The note
The Banco de la República printed this ten-peso oro at its Imprenta de Billetes, opened in Bogotá on 23 October 1959. The face, lilac, green, blue, and brown on a multicolour underprint, carries Antonio Nariño’s portrait in uniform at left — labelled “NARIÑO” under the bust — and an Andean condor perched on the figure 10 at right. At center is the promise to pay the bearer ten gold pesos. The serials are in red: 00000100, once at mid-left and once at upper right; above each sits “SERIE AZ” in black. The printed date is “AGOSTO 7 DE 1980” over “BOGOTA, COLOMBIA.” The face imprint reads “IMPRENTA DE BILLETES - BOGOTA.” The signatures are those of Rafael Gama Quijano (gerente) and Francisco José Ortega (secretario), the pair Numista assigns to this date (RGQ, FJO). There is no asterisk between GERENTE and SECRETARIO: it is not the Hernández 209 / TBB B950nr replacement. The back, slate blue in a multicolour frame, shows the pre-Columbian statues of the San Agustín Archaeological Park — labelled “MONUMENTOS ARQUEOLOGICOS DE SAN AGUSTIN” — the bank’s Liberty seal (“BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA · COLOMBIA”), and the figures 10. Pick separates this variety as 407h; The Banknote Book numbers it B950o; Hernández Cód. 208. Distinct from 407g of 07.08.1979 and 07.08.1980 without a series letter (in this case the 1979 serial 98040194), from the July 1976 replacement (serial 00142533), and from the 1943 ABNC 10 pesos oro (Pick 389b). Nariño is associated with printing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in New Granada in 1793; the reverse points to San Agustín’s archaeological heritage. Serial 00000100 is low (value 100); it does not establish physical print order. CGB has described AZ examples as replacements; Numista separates Series AZ from the 1980 asterisk replacement. This record uses “Series AZ” without calling it a replacement until that reading is resolved. This collection piece is shown unslabbed; the photographs show toning and foxing spots, especially at the margins.
Scarcity and printage
González White 2019 (pp. 67–68) titles the 1975–1980 AZ spread and reserves the series letter to #209; this record does not publish a guessed BG# or emisión from the OCR. Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers “1980, Serie AZ” as Cód. 208. Numista groups the design under N# 203973 and marks the P# 407h / TBB B950o / Hernández 208 row’s frequency at 23% among owners of the type, against 47% for the ordinary 07.08.1980 without a series letter (407g / B950n / Hernández 207) and 0.7% for the asterisk replacement (B950nr / Hernández 209). Those figures are catalog-population estimates, not official printages. Serial 00000100 is low (1–100 on the printed width); no Series AZ printage is invented here. It is neither a proof nor a specimen, nor the 1979 407g, nor the 1976 replacement. Hernández and Numista price columns are not republished. BanRep’s 1980 table (65.45 million 10-peso notes) is a denomination-year total, not this variety’s printage.
Population
A PMG or PCGS census for serial 00000100 has not been independently verified. The note is shown unslabbed.
Sources
- Bank Note Museum — Colombia P-407, 10 pesos oro (1963–1980) (opens in a new tab)
407h: 07.08.1980, series AZ; Nariño and condor on the face, San Agustín on the back. Distinct from 407g (07.08.1979 and 07.08.1980, without a series letter) and from 407f (1974–1978).
- Numista — Colombia 10 pesos oro, N# 203973 (opens in a new tab)
07.08.1980 Series AZ: P# 407h / TBB B950o; Hernández 208; signatures RGQ and FJO; “Serie AZ” at mid-left and upper right; 140 × 70 mm; no thread; 23% frequency within the type. The ordinary note of the same date is P# 407g / TBB B950n / Hernández 207; the asterisk replacement is TBB B950nr / Hernández 209.
- PMG — Colombia 10 pesos oro price guide (AZ variety) (opens in a new tab)
PMG distinguishes the AZ variety as P-407h, separate from the ordinary 1980 P-407g. Price columns are not republished here.
- Banco de la República — Banknote and coin production and circulation (opens in a new tab)
1980 production: 65.45 million 10-peso notes. The table does not split date, Series AZ, signatures, or replacement; it is not the printage of this 7 August 1980 or of the AZ variety.
- Banco de la República — 60 years of the Imprenta de Billetes (opens in a new tab)
23 October 1959; first job: the blue 1-peso printed in Bogotá (Pick 404). González White assigns the 1975–1980 dates of this 10-peso to that plant.
- Pedro Pablo Hernández — Coins and Banknotes of Colombia (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183). Numista cites Hernández 208 for the 7 August 1980 Series AZ (Pick 407h / TBB B950o); the ordinary note of the same date is Hernández 207 and the asterisk replacement is Hernández 209. Price columns and plates are not republished.
- Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia — Antonio Nariño and the printing of the Rights of Man (opens in a new tab)
Historical context for the portrait: Nariño and the printing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in New Granada (1793).
Related pieces
Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.
