The real was the currency of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 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

Spanish colonial real

The silver real was the currency of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at two billon reals or sixty-eight Spanish maravedís. Gold escudos were also issued...

, some of which were minted in Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

 and Popayán

Popayán

Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...

. After 1820, issues were made specifically for Colombia, under the various names that the state used. In 1837, the peso

Colombian peso

The peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP and it is also informally abbreviated as COL$. However, the official peso symbol is $. As 20 July 2011, the exchange rate of the Colombian peso is 1750 Colombian pesos to 1 U.S. dollar.-History:The peso has been the currency of Colombia...

, 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 ¼, ½, 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

Santa Marta

Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...

, and by republicans in Cartagena

Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...

 and Cundinamarca

Cundinamarca Department (1820)

Cundinamarca Department was one of the three departments of Gran Colombia until 1824.In the South-West it bordered Quito Department, in the East Venezuela Department...

. Popayán issued copper ½, 2 and 8 real coins, Santa Marta issued copper ¼ and ½ real and silver 2 reales, Cartagena issued copper ½ and 2 reales, and Cundinamarca issued silver ¼, ½, 1 and 2 reales. Cundinamarca went on to issue silver ½, 1, 2 and 8 reales between 1820 and 1823.

The United Provinces of New Granada issued silver ½, 1, 2 and 8 reales between 1819 and 1822. These were followed by coins of the Republic of Colombia, silver ¼, ½, 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 ½, 1, 2 and 4 reales, also denominated as 6¼, 12½, 25 and 50 centavos. These were followed, some time in the 1820s, by notes for 1, 2, 3 and 5 pesos.