Colombia · Banco de la República · ABNC
500 pesos oro note, 1977
500 pesos oro · Banco de la República · 1977
A circulating five-hundred-peso oro, Pick 420a / TBB B962a: nine-digit serial 038064123, 20 July 1977, slabbed PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated. This record gathers the face and back of the same holder.
Catalog facts
- Pick reference
- P# 420a · TBB B962a
- Serial number
- 038064123
- Signatures
- Germán Botero de los Ríos (gerente) and Antonio José Gutiérrez (secretario)
- Condition
- PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated
- Printage
- American Bank Note Company, New York. Banco de la República circulation issue; date on the note 20 July 1977. Published size: 140 × 70 mm. Nine-digit serial, no series letter. González White 2019 (p. 101) numbers this date BG# 389: ABNC, 44,500,000 notes, serials 000.000.001 / 044.500.000. Serial 038064123 sits in that range. BG# 390 is 1 April 1979 (55,500,000, serials 044.500.001 / 100.000.000); BG# 391 is the film variety of that date, included in the BG# 390 emisión. Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers 20 July 1977 as Cód. 386; Numista concurs Hernández 386, P# 420a, and TBB B962a. The Bank Note Museum numbers type 420a on 20.07.1977, distinct from 420b of 01.04.1979. BanRep’s annual production table records no 500-peso notes in 1977; the first figure in that column is 1988. That table is not this date’s printage and does not replace the BG# 389 emisión.
Face
Back
The note
The Banco de la República ordered this five-hundred-peso oro from the American Bank Note Company in New York. González White 2019 (p. 101) notes that Santander replaces Bolívar, the figure on the 500-peso note from 1923 through 1973, and that this is the first date of the type. The face carries at left the portrait of Francisco de Paula Santander and, under the oval, the legend “SANTANDER EL HOMBRE DE LAS LEYES.” At center, on a multicolour geometric ground, is the promise to pay the bearer five hundred gold pesos. The serials are in black: 038064123, once at upper right and once at lower left. There is no series letter and no asterisk. The printed date is “20 DE JULIO DE 1977.” The signatures are those of Germán Botero de los Ríos (gerente) and Antonio José Gutiérrez (secretario): Numista assigns the pair GBR₂ and AJG to this date; 1 April 1979 carries Rafael Gama Quijano and Francisco José Ortega. González White describes the type without a series letter and with nine digits, so that every number begins with zero, and notes that the initial zero belongs to another numbering device. He also attributes a watermark and a security thread to these notes. The holder identifies the watermark as Santander’s profile; this record did not examine it under transmitted light. The back shows the underground church of the Zipaquirá salt mines, Liberty’s seal (“BANCO DE LA REPUBLICA / BOGOTÁ COLOMBIA”), and the imprint “AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY.” Type 420a, per the Bank Note Museum, is 20.07.1977. Numista groups the 1977–1979 design under N# 236999 and cites Hernández 386 and TBB B962a for this date. The legend calls Santander “el hombre de las leyes”: an independence leader, he was president of New Granada from 1832 to 1837. This piece is the ordinary circulating issue of 20 July 1977. Pick 420b of 1 April 1979, specimen 420s1, and the transparent-film variety Hernández Cód. 388, also of 1979, are other rows. The collection piece is slabbed by PMG.
Scarcity and printage
González White 2019 (BG# 389, p. 101) publishes 44,500,000 notes for 20 July 1977, ABNC, nine digits, serials 000.000.001–044.500.000; serial 038064123 sits in that range. BG# 390 and BG# 391 are 1 April 1979; the latter is the film variety, included in the former’s emisión. Hernández (8th ed., 2023) numbers the 20 July 1977 row Cód. 386; Cód. 387 is 1 April 1979 and Cód. 388 is that date with a transparent film over the left serial. The Bank Note Museum describes Pick 420a as 20.07.1977: Santander on the face and the underground church at Zipaquirá on the back. Numista groups the design under N# 236999 and marks the 20.07.1977 date, signatures GBR₂ and AJG, at 55% among owners of the type. It is an ordinary circulating issue: proof, specimen 420s1, and replacement are other rows, as is the film variety. Price columns are not published. BanRep’s table lists no 500-peso production in 1977 (that column begins in 1988) and does not replace the BG# 389 emisión.
Population
The note is slabbed by PMG as 64 Choice Uncirculated, without the EPQ designation, certification 2307574-005. A population census for that holder number has not been independently verified, nor has the reason EPQ is absent.
Sources
- Bank Note Museum — Colombia P-420, 500 pesos oro (1977–1979) (opens in a new tab)
420a: 20.07.1977; 420b: 01.04.1979. Face: Francisco de Paula Santander. Back: underground church of the Zipaquirá salt mines. Printer: American Bank Note Company, New York.
- Numista — Colombia 500 pesos oro, N# 236999 (opens in a new tab)
20.07.1977: P# 420a / TBB B962a; Hernández 386; signatures GBR₂ and AJG; 140 × 70 mm; Santander watermark; 55% frequency within the type. 01.04.1979 is P# 420b / Hernández 387.
- Banco de la República — Banknote and coin production and circulation (opens in a new tab)
The annual table records no 500-peso notes in 1977. The first figure in that column is 1988. It is not the printage of 20 July 1977 or the BG# 389 emisión.
- Banrepcultural encyclopedia — Francisco de Paula Santander (opens in a new tab)
Independence leader and president of New Granada (1832–1837). The note’s legend calls him “el hombre de las leyes.”
- Pedro Pablo Hernández — Coins and Banknotes of Colombia (Numista L100183) (opens in a new tab)
8th ed. 2023 (Numista L100183). Numista cites Hernández 386 for 20 July 1977 (Pick 420a). Cód. 387 is 1 April 1979 and Cód. 388 is that date with a transparent film. Price columns and plates are not republished.
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