Museum objects
0 shown · 5 cited but not shown. An image only appears here if it is openly
licensed and confirmed to depict the object we claim. Otherwise we cite it and link you to
the museum — we would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
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HELD IN COLLECTION
Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), Banco de la República
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Muisca Raft (Balsa Muisca)
Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), Banco de la República · Not publicly listed · c. 1295–1410 AD
A miniature raft bearing a central gold-dusted chief (zipa) surrounded by attendant figures with ceremonial staffs and headdresses. Depicts the El Dorado gilding ceremony at Lake Guatavita.
The single most iconic artifact of Muisca goldwork. The real object behind the El Dorado legend — a Colombian national emblem that predates the peso by 400 years.
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1960.166.309
American Numismatic Society (ANS)
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Gold 10 Peso Coin — Cóndor Design (Popayán Mint)
American Numismatic Society (ANS) · 1960.166.309 · 1853
Obverse: Liberty bust with 'REPUBLICA DE LA NUEVA GRANADA · LIBERTAD'. Reverse: Andean condor with 'LIBERTAD Y ORDEN'. Established by the Law of 30 May 1853 as the gold cóndor standard at 10 pesos.
The coin that fixed Colombia's gold standard and gave the condor — its national bird — a permanent place on its money. The gold anchor of the peso for three decades.
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N/A (building)
Museo Casa de Moneda (Banco de la República)
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Casa de Moneda de Bogotá
Museo Casa de Moneda (Banco de la República) · N/A (building) · Founded 1620–1621; milled coinage from 1756
The first mint of the Nuevo Reino de Granada, in La Candelaria neighborhood. Colonial cobs, Republic-era pesos, and gold cóndores were all struck here over three centuries.
The physical origin point of all Colombian coinage — from hand-hammered colonial gold to the modern peso. Still standing and operating as a museum.
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HELD IN COLLECTION
Wikimedia Commons (digitized from collector source)
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Colombia 8 Reales Silver Coin, 1821
Wikimedia Commons (digitized from collector source) · N/A · 1821
A milled silver 8-reales coin struck at the transition between Spanish colonial rule and independence — part of the 'piece of eight' tradition dating to 1627. The monetary bridge between colonial Real and Republic peso.
The coin Catalina was born from — the peso's direct ancestor. The 8 reales was the world's first global currency; the peso replaced it.
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LOC item 2021670051
Library of Congress (digital); Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia (physical archive)
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Comisión Corográfica Watercolor — 'View of the Mountains above Cali'
Library of Congress (digital); Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia (physical archive) · LOC item 2021670051 · c. 1853–1859
Field illustration by artist Manuel María Paz, created during the government-commissioned Comisión Corográfica survey of New Granada led by Agustín Codazzi. Documents landscapes, costumes, and daily life.
The Comisión Corográfica is Colombia's richest 19th-century visual documentary record — direct production reference for Catalina's world. Over 90 paintings by Paz alone.
Primary sources
The documents themselves. We link and quote — that is citation, and it needs no licence.
Ley del 30 de mayo de 1853 — Monetary Law establishing the gold cóndor
legislative_act · 30 May 1853 · Congress of the Republic of New Granada · Archivo General de la Nación, Bogotá (primary); referenced via Wikipedia monetary timeline
Renamed the 'granadino' monetary unit to 'peso' and established the gold cóndor coin at 10 pesos, 16.400g at .900 fine gold.
The law that created the condor gold coin worth ten pesos — the document that gave Colombia's money both its name and its bird symbol.
Manuel María Paz watercolor — Comisión Corográfica survey
primary_visual_document · c. 1853–1859 · Manuel María Paz · Library of Congress (digital); Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia (physical, Bogotá)
Field watercolor produced during the Comisión Corográfica's systematic survey of New Granada. One of over 90 paintings by Paz documenting landscapes, people, and daily life.
A real painting of Colombia in the 1850s, made by a government artist traveling the country — the best visual record we have of what Catalina's world actually looked like.
ANS MANTIS — Gold 10 Peso, Popayán, 1853 (Cóndor design)
numismatic_database · 1853 · American Numismatic Society · American Numismatic Society, New York
Verified museum catalog record documenting a physical gold cóndor-design 10-peso coin from the Republic of New Granada, with weight and diameter measurements. Accession 1960.166.309.
The museum record proving a real ten-peso gold coin with a condor still exists today — more than 170 years after it was made.
El Banco Nacional, 1880–1904: el fracaso de la moneda legal
academic_publication · 1989 · Published in Lecturas de Economía · Lecturas de Economía journal, indexed via IDEAS/RePEc
Academic economic history analyzing the failure of Colombia's Banco Nacional and its forced paper currency — one of Catalina's six monetary crises.
This academic paper explains how Colombia's first national bank printed too much paper money in the 1880s and ended up failing — a real financial crisis from Catalina's story.
Colombia Devalues Peso by 10% in Emergency Decree
newspaper · 29 June 1999 · The New York Times (International Business desk) · The New York Times archive
Contemporary news report on Colombia's emergency 10% peso devaluation during the 1999 financial crisis — the most recent of Catalina's six major crises.
In 1999 Colombia's government suddenly made its money worth 10% less overnight to deal with an economic emergency — proof that the peso's story includes real crashes.
Where this money travelled
Born in the heart of the Andes, Colombia's peso traces a journey from Muisca gold ceremonies at Lake Guatavita through colonial mints in Bogotá and Popayán, along Caribbean trade routes from Cartagena, and outward to international museum collections that hold the surviving evidence of her story.
Casa de Moneda de Bogotá4.5967, -74.0736
Museo del Oro — Bogotá4.6019, -74.0720
Lake Guatavita4.9714, -73.7838
Muzo Emerald Mines5.5333, -74.1000
Popayán Mint2.4448, -76.6147
Cartagena de Indias10.4236, -75.5528
What we don't know
The page no competitor will build.
- 5 of 5 objects on this page are cited but not shown — either the rights are not cleared, or we could not verify that an available image really depicts the object. We would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
- 1 source(s) here are Wikipedia — a tertiary source. It is a pointer, not our evidence. These are being replaced with the primary documents Wikipedia itself cites.
