Bogotá, Colombia · Specimens of Two Hundred Pesos Gold

The Bank of the Republic

Two Hundred Pesos Gold, 1982 (Bolívar) and 1983 · 1992 (Mutis)

Obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) — Notofilia.com Collection

The Doscientos Pesos Oro design changed subjects in the early 1980s: from a 1982 portrait of Simón Bolívar beside a coffee-harvesting vignette to the scholar José Celestino Mutis before the Cloister of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a design adopted in 1983 and still used on the 1992 example.

Two Hundred Pesos Oro · January 1, 1982 · Bolívar

Denomination Doscientos Pesos Oro

Date January 1, 1982

Obverse Multicolor, predomina el verde y el negro. Retrato de Simón Bolívar a la derecha con fondo arquitectónico. Leyenda: “EL BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA PAGARÁ AL PORTADOR DOSCIENTOS PESOS ORO”. Overprint roja “MUESTRA SIN VALOR”. Numbering en ceros. Signatures de Gerente y Secretario. Bogotá, January 1, 1982.

Reverse Multicolor. Central vignette of a coffee picker beside bushes and harvested beans. Coat of arms of Colombia and Liberty medallion. Text: “DOSCIENTOS PESOS ORO”. Red “MUESTRA SIN VALOR” overprint.

Condition Uncirculated specimen, with characteristic cancellation perforations and zero serial numbering.

Rarity An attractive 1980s specimen that combines a national hero with Colombian coffee culture.

Specimen de transición, con el último uso del portrait of Bolívar en esta denominación y un homenaje explícito a la industria cafetera en el reverse.

Denomination Doscientos Pesos Oro

Date April 1, 1983

Obverse Multicolor, predomina el verde. Retrato de José Celestino Mutis a la izquierda, con el Claustro de Nuestra Señora del Rosario al fondo. Overprint roja “SPECIMEN” e inscripción “SPECIMEN N.° 723”. Numbering en ceros (000000000). Bogotá, April 1, 1983.

Reverse Multicolor. Vignette of the Claustro Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, with the coat of arms of Colombia and the Liberty medallion. Text: “DOSCIENTOS PESOS ORO”. Red “SPECIMEN” overprint.

Condition Uncirculated specimen, with characteristic cancellation perforations and zero serial numbering.

Rarity First year of the Mutis design with the Cloister of the Rosario; a marked cultural and architectural emphasis.

Doscientos Pesos Oro · April 1, 1983 · Mutis

Specimen that introduces the José Celestino Mutis design, in use for nearly a decade, still with the English “SPECIMEN” overprint typical of the period.

Obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) — Notofilia.com Collection

Denomination Doscientos Pesos Oro

Date August 10, 1992

Obverse Multicolor, predomina el verde. Retrato de José Celestino Mutis a la izquierda, con el Claustro de Nuestra Señora del Rosario al fondo. Overprint roja “MUESTRA SIN VALOR”. Numbering en ceros (00000000). Santa Fe de Bogotá, August 10, 1992.

Reverse Multicolor. Detailed vignette of the Claustro Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario with documents and the coat of arms of Colombia. Text: “DOSCIENTOS PESOS ORO”. Red “MUESTRA SIN VALOR” overprint.

Condition Uncirculated specimen, with characteristic cancellation perforations and zero serial numbering.

Rarity A late 1992 example that documents the same design a decade later, with the city already styled “Santa Fe de Bogotá”.

Doscientos Pesos Oro · August 10, 1992 · Mutis

A specimen from the last stage of this design, practically identical to the 1983 issue except for the date and the overprint, by then in Spanish.

Obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) — Notofilia.com Collection

Bolívar and the Coffee Culture (1982)

The 1982 specimen takes up the portrait of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, present in numerous Colombian issues, and dedicates the reverse to a coffee picker at work —a tribute to the coffee industry, a pillar of the Colombian economy of the 20th century and an internationally recognized symbol.

José Celestino Mutis and the Rosario Cloister (1983, 1992)

The wise naturalist:José Celestino Mutis (1732–1808), priest, botanist and doctor from Cádiz based in New Granada, directed the Royal Botanical Expedition and is considered the father of Colombian natural science. His portrait replaced that of Bolívar on the Two Hundred Pesos Gold bill starting in 1983, remaining unchanged in the 1992 issue.

The Cloister of Our Lady of the Rosary:The building represented on the obverse and developed on the reverse corresponds to the Main Cloister of Nuestra Señora del Rosario —la “Bordadita”— in Bogotá, historical headquarters of the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, the oldest university in Colombia, founded in 1653.

From “Specimen” to “Sample Without Value”

The three specimens document the editorial transition of the Colombian currency: the one from 1983 retains the overprint in English “SPECIMEN” with specimen numbering (“SPECIMEN N.° 723”), while those from 1982 and 1992 already carry the Castilian legend “SAMPLE WITHOUT VALUE”, reflecting the progressive nationalization of banknote production in Colombia.

Sources

Pick, Albert.Standard Catalog of World Paper Money.
Hernández, Pedro Pablo.Coins and Banknotes of Colombia.
Restrepo, Jorge Emilio.Coins of Colombia.
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)

The Bank of the Republic

Bolívar and the Coffee Culture (1982)

José Celestino Mutis and the Rosario Cloister (1983, 1992)

From “Specimen” to “Sample Without Value”

Sources

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