The real was the currency of
Colombia until 1837. No subdivisions of the real existed until after the real had ceased to be the primary unit of currency. However, 8 reales = 1 ''peso'' and 16 reales = 1 ''escudo''.
History
Until 1820, Colombia used the
Spanish colonial real
The silver real ( es, real de plata) was the currency of the Spanish colonies in America and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at two billon reals (''reales de vellón'') or sixty-eight ''maravedís'' ...
, some of which were minted in
Bogotá and
Popayán
Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...
.
After 1820, issues were made specifically for Colombia, under the various names that the state used. In 1837, the
peso
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
, worth 8 reales, became the primary unit of currency. The real continued to circulate as an eighth of a peso until 1847, when a new real was introduced worth one tenth of a peso and subdivided into 10 ''decimos de real''. This new real was renamed the decimo in 1853, although coins denominated in reales were again issued 1859-1862 and in 1880.
Coins
During the Spanish colonial period, silver , , 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales and gold 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos were struck at Bogotá and Popayán, the last of which were produced in 1820. During the war of independence, regional issues were made by royalists in Popayán and
Santa Marta, and by republicans in
Cartagena and
Cundinamarca. Popayán issued copper , 2 and 8 real coins, Santa Marta issued copper and real and silver 2 reales, Cartagena issued copper and 2 reales, and Cundinamarca issued silver , , 1 and 2 reales. Cundinamarca went on to issue silver , 1, 2 and 8 reales between 1820 and 1823.
The United Provinces of New Granada issued silver coins in denominations of , 1, 2 and 8 reales between 1819 and 1822. These were followed by coins of the Republic of Colombia, silver , , 1 and 8 reales, and gold 1 peso, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos.
Banknotes
Around 1819, notes were issued by the government in denominations of , 1, 2 and 4 reales, also denominated as , , 25 and 50 centavos. These were followed, some time in the 1820s, by notes for 1, 2, 3 and 5 pesos.
References
*
*{{numis cite SCWPM, date=1994
Modern obsolete currencies
History of Colombia
Finance in Colombia
1837 disestablishments