The 50,000 (COP) Peso note was introduced by the Bank of the Republic Colombia in 2016 as part of a new series. The note was the third to be placed into circulation after the 100,000 and 20,000 were released earlier that year. The other denominations to complete the series are 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000. The 50,000 Pesos note was the largest denomination to date until the introduction of the 100,000 note in March, 2016 (which signaled economic prosperity and rising incomes). The note’s dimensions are 148 x 66 centimeters rendering it second largest after the 100,000. The sizes of the remaining notes vary and decrease as the do their respective denominations. The notes are all made of cotton material.

The 2016 series was put into circulation with the existing series that was released between 2000 – 2014 and the Peso has been Colombia’s official currency since 1810.

The obverse of the note depicts Nobel Laureate in Literature Gabriel García Márquez (known more informally as Gabo), who is regarded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century (particularly in the Spanish language). He is the most translated Spanish language author in the world and is recognized by his fiction novels that infuse a literary style known as Magic Realism (a style that is grounded in reality but also integrates moments of fantasy). There are two depictions of Gabriel García Márquez, one of his portrait and another of him standing next to several butterflies. Images of Colombia’s rich biodiversity are also featured represented by a hummingbird feeding from a flower and a Bulgao snail, an edible marine snail.

The reverse of the note features The Lost City (La Ciudad Perdida), two indigenous people and houses of the Tairona culture (the City’s inhabitants). The Lost City is an archeological site of an ancient settlement located in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region, an isolated mountain range in the northern part of Colombia. The city is believed to have been originally established in 800 AD and was rediscovered in 1972 by treasure looters, the discovery being classified as one of the most significant in modern times.

The note also depicts terraces of The Lost City along with living quarters of its pre-Colombian inhabitants, the Tairona. The Bulgao snail reappears on the reverse as well. Within the upper right part of the note a portion of Gabriel García Márquez’s acceptance speech of his Nobel Prize is featured.

The 50,000 Peso note is replete with security features on both sides arguably making it a counterfeiter’s nightmare. It is a great example of how visual and tactile features come together to authenticate the note. A watermark of Gabriel García Márquez comes to life on the note’s obverse on left panel when held to the light. The hummingbird is an example of a color shifting element (from green to blue), when tilting the note toward and away from the light source. Several manifestations of tactile features include embossed printing on several areas such as Gabo’s portrait, the denomination, the six side bars on the left and right sides of the note, and that of the Banco de La Republica Colombia (mainly on the obverse). For the visually impaired, the note’s denomination is made available in Braille while micro printing is another copiously integrated feature on both sides of the note. Embossed elements on the reverse include the bank’s emblem and the denomination while a conspicuous security thread also exhibits a color shifting property (from copper to green), when the note is tilted back and forth.

All in, the 2016 50,000 Peso note is very much alive spinning tales of an ancient civilization and its lost city, a Nobel Laureate and native son whose prose touched people all over the world, all the while depicting the beautiful yet fragile side of Colombia’s biodiversity. Much in the spirit of Gabo’s novels there is an aura about this note that emanates a feeling of magic realism.