Genuine bills have some texture to them and the three counterfeits I encountered didn’t have texture. You can also tell by the feel of the bills. I see clerks in stores do this frequently. If some ink rubs off, it likely isn’t a counterfeit. One of the easiest ways to check to see if a Colombian bill is real is to rub it against a piece of paper. A guide to the new Colombian coins (in Spanish) is found here. There have also been some counterfeit 1,000 peso coins – the new version of the coins. The most common counterfeit notes in Colombia are the 20,000 peso and 50,000 peso notes. I normally don’t check the bills received from an ATM machine or money exchange place, so I didn’t catch this until later. I used both one day so I am not sure from which I received the counterfeit. The other was a counterfeit 50,000-peso note that I received from either an ATM or money exchange place in Medellín. This happened once in a bar in Cartagena and once in a small shop in Medellín. Two of the counterfeits I received were 20,000 peso notes given in change, which I luckily caught both times, as the counterfeits weren’t that good. I have received three counterfeit bills over the eight years I have been traveling to Colombia, including living over three years in Medellín. The best way to get the local currency is through an ATM. ATMs in Los Molinos mall Avoiding Counterfeitsĭon’t ever change your money on the street in Colombia, as counterfeit money is common. However, a government initiative to rebase the Colombian currency with fewer zeros failed four years ago on concerns that expenses to print new bills, change accounting and switch prices would outweigh the benefits. Under the proposed change this would become a 10-peso taxi ride. So a 10,000-peso taxi ride would be $4.15. A recent exchange rate was 2,408 pesos per U.S. The exchange rate fluctuates daily but the dollar has been strong recently. Billions are expressed as thousands of millions and trillions are called “billones.” When figures go beyond 1 billion pesos it can get confusing for people unfamiliar with Spanish. Also with so many zeros currently it is more likely errors are being made. This would make currency conversions easier. Photos of the Colombian currency notes and coins in circulation can be found on the Banco de la República website.Ī proposal was recently submitted by Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas to cut three zeros from Colombia’s currency system. There are two versions of the coins currently in circulation. It comes in six different note denominations:Ĭolombia also uses five different coins: 1,000 pesos, 500 pesos, 200 pesos, 100 pesos and 50 pesos. Colombia’s currency system uses the Colombia peso (COP).
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