Colombia · Banco de la República · Replacement
5 pesos oro note, 1977
5 pesos oro · replacement · 1977
Replacement five-peso oro, 20 July 1977: Pick 406e / Hernández 150. Serial 00120856. Circled asterisk left of GERENTE. Face and back, unslabbed.
Catalog facts
- Pick reference
- P# 406e · Hernández 150
- Serial number
- 00120856
- Signatures
- Germán Botero de los Ríos (gerente) and Antonio José Gutiérrez (secretario)
- Condition
- Unslabbed
- Printage
- The face imprint reads “THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY LIMITED.” González White 2019 (p. 60) assigns the 1973–1981 five-peso group to the Imprenta de Billetes: “Tienen 8 dígitos, sin serie. Impresos por IBB.” This record states both attributions and does not decide which workshop printed this piece. Banco de la República issue; date on the note 20 July 1977. Eight digits, no series letter. This piece is the replacement variety: Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers it Cód. 150 — Numista concurs Hernández 150, distinct from Cód. 149 of the circulating note of the same date (P# 406e / TBB B949m). The diagnostic on this holding is the asterisk inside a circle, to the left of GERENTE, on the face. Hernández describes Cód. 150 as “asterisco en el anverso.” Numista labels that row “star on reverse” and reserves “asterisk within circle on the center left” for 1 October 1978 (Hernández 153): the date printed here is 20 July 1977, so it is not that row. Cód. 151, the same date and the same replacement signature pair, is “último 7 corto”; that 7 was not measured on this photograph and that row is not assigned. Annex 2 places the 20 July 1977 asterisk interval (00104171–00194009) under two pesos, not under five pesos; the five-peso span for that date is not legible in the OCR and no guessed interval is published here. González White 2019 (pp. 59–60) jumbles BG# against dates: no guessed BG# or replacement band is published. Published size: 140 × 70 mm. Ordinary P# 406e, per Numista, has no security thread; González White notes “Sin hilo hasta #159.” The photograph does not show a thread. BanRep’s 1977 table records 50 million 5-peso notes — a denomination-year total, not this replacement’s printage. This record does not invent a printage.
Face
Back
The note
This five-peso oro belongs to the Pick 406 family (1961–1981). The face, green and brown on a multicolour underprint, carries an Andean condor with spread wings at left and José María Córdova’s portrait at right. González White notes that the type prints the surname “Córdoba”; no name caption under the oval was read on this photograph. At center is the promise to pay the bearer five gold pesos. The serials are in red: 00120856, once at upper left and once at lower right, beside the date. There is no series letter. The printed date is “JULIO 20 DE 1977.” At lower center the paper reads “BOGOTA COLOMBIA.” The signatures Numista assigns to the replacement of this date are those of Germán Botero de los Ríos (gerente) and Antonio José Gutiérrez (secretario), the pair GBR, AJG₂; the circulating note (Cód. 149) carries GBR"₂, AJG₂. González White notes that Botero was gerente from 1970 to 1978. The handwriting on this piece was not read separately. The replacement diagnostic is not in the serial: it is the black asterisk inside a circle, immediately to the left of the title GERENTE. Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers that row Cód. 150, distinct from circulating Cód. 149 of the same date (P# 406e / TBB B949m). Numista labels Cód. 150 “star on reverse”; on this holding the mark is on the face. The row Numista describes as an asterisk inside a circle, at center left, is 1 October 1978 (Hernández 153), a different date. Cód. 151, “último 7 corto,” shares the replacement’s date and signatures; it is not assigned here. The face imprint reads “THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY LIMITED,” with no comma and no “LONDRES.” González White assigns the 1973–1981 group to the Imprenta de Billetes (“Impresos por IBB”). The backs of this case’s 1980 pieces read “IMPRENTA DE BILLETES - BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA”; on this back the lower margin shows the “CINCO PESOS ORO” band and not that line. The back is labelled “CARTAGENA.” English-language catalogs and the Banco’s numismatic-collection booklet identify Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the view of the walls the 5-peso note carried from 1961 to 1981. Pick numbers the ordinary type as 406e and does not split the replacement. Numista describes this date’s P# 406e without a security thread; the photograph shows no thread and does not establish a watermark. Distinct from this case’s 1980 circulating example (serial 94658896, Hernández 157), from the 1980 replacement (serial 00011943, Hernández 158), from the 1 April 1979 replacement (serial 00141180, Hernández 156), and from the 1960 specimen (Pick 405s, serial 00000000). This collection piece is shown unslabbed.
Scarcity and printage
The 20 July 1977 replacement is a recognized variety and substantially scarcer than the ordinary issue of that date (Hernández Cód. 149 / TBB B949m). Numista marks the Hernández 150 row’s frequency at 0.09% among owners of type N# 206002; the circulating row, Cód. 149, at 8%. Those figures are catalog-population estimates, not an official printage. Cód. 151 (“último 7 corto”) is a separate row, at 0.18%, and is not this piece. Annex 2 does not give a legible five-peso interval for 20 July 1977: the span 00104171–00194009 sits under two pesos. González White 2019 (pp. 59–60) publishes Reposición asterisco rows, but the OCR does not align a band with this date; no interval is published here. Pick does not list replacements separately. BanRep’s 1977 table records 50 million 5-peso notes: that is the year’s total for the face value, not this replacement’s printage. This record does not invent a printage or republish Hernández or Numista price columns.
Population
A PMG or PCGS census for serial 00120856 has not been independently verified. The note is shown unslabbed. The photographs are not enough to assign a numeric grade.
Sources
- Numista — Colombia 5 pesos oro, N# 206002 (opens in a new tab)
20.07.1977 replacement: Hernández 150; signatures GBR and AJG₂; Numista labels the row “star on reverse” (0.09% frequency). The circulating date is P# 406e / TBB B949m / Hernández 149, without a thread (8% frequency). Cód. 151 is “last 7 short” (0.18%) and is not this piece. Numista reserves “asterisk within circle on the center left” for 01.10.1978 (Hernández 153). 140 × 70 mm.
- Bank Note Museum — Colombia P-406, 5 pesos oro (1961–1981) (opens in a new tab)
P-406 family, 1961–1981: condor and José María Córdoba on the face; Cartagena on the back. Does not split the 20 July 1977 replacement. Distinct from Pick 405 (bank building, 1960).
- Banco de la República — Banknote and coin production and circulation (opens in a new tab)
1977 production: 50 million 5-peso notes. That is the year’s total for the face value, not the printage of 20 July 1977 or of this replacement.
- Pedro Pablo Hernández — Coins and Banknotes of Colombia (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183). Cód. 149: circulating 20 July 1977; Cód. 150: replacement of the same date, “asterisco en el anverso”; Cód. 151: “último 7 corto,” not assigned here. Annex 2 places 00104171–00194009 under two pesos, not under five pesos; no guessed five-peso interval is published for this date. Numista cites Hernández 150 for the replacement. Price columns and plates are not republished.
- Banrepcultural — Casa de Moneda Museum (opens in a new tab)
The 5-peso note carried the view of the walls of Cartagena de Indias from 1961 to 1981. 140 × 70 mm.
Related pieces
Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.
