The Bank of the Republic
Two Thousand Pesos · Portrait of Francisco de Paula Santander
Two circulated copies of Dos Mil Pesos, dated 2005 and 2009, document guillotine cutting errors that displace the printed design with respect to the paper — in each case with a different pattern, proof that this type of failure could be repeated, with variations, in different production batches.
Banknote Design
Both bills correspond to the Two Thousand Pesos edition with the portrait of Francisco de Paula Santander on the obverse, printed by the Banknote Printing Office of the Banco de la República in predominantly green and beige colors, with the Bogotá Mint reproduced on the reverse.
The Off-Center Cutting Error
- When separating banknotes from a printing sheet, the guillotine must precisely follow the cutting lines provided by the design. In the 2009 copy, the cut was made horizontally: the left edge of the obverse is noticeably wider than normal, while the right edge cuts off part of the denomination “2000” and the portrait. In the 2005 issue, the displacement was diagonal, leaving both bills — obverse and reverse — with an angular cut that trims the corners asymmetrically.
- This type of defect is known among collectors as“off-center cut”, one of the cutting error variants that, together with the “butterfly” error (excess paper attached) and the fold, are part of the classic guillotining failures in banknote production.
Legacy for Collectors
Off-center cut banknotes directly show a margin of paper that is normally trimmed and discarded —a rare window into the physical process of making paper money, which rarely survives intact in a circulated specimen. Having two examples from different years allows us to compare how the direction and magnitude of the displacement varies from one batch to another.
Sources
- Pick, Albert.Standard Catalog of World Paper Money.
- Heritage Auctions —ha.com(opens in a new tab)
- Numista —numista.com(opens in a new tab)
- Bank of the Republic —banrep.gov.co(opens in a new tab)