1971 Colombian 5-peso

[villa66]

A 1971 Colombia 5-peso celebrating the 6th Pan-American Games held in Cali, about a ten- or twelve-hour drive from Bogotá, where the coin was struck. This piece of nickel-clad steel goes 30mm in diameter and weighs 10.1g. When it was coined it exchanged for a little less than US$0.30—which mattered because American tourists and athletes were in town to attend the Games.

(The first Pan-Am Games had been held in 1951 in Argentina, followed in 1955 by the Games in Mexico, 1959 in the U.S. (Chicago—there’s a 10-cent airmail commem), then 1963 in Brazil, and 1967 in Canada. Colombia’s 1971 5-peso commemorative, however, was the first coin issued to mark the Games.)

“The new Inter-Continental Hotel is scheduled to open for the Pan American games here in July 1971,” reported the 1970 edition of New Horizons World Guide, which also reported a 4¾-hour flight time from Miami to Cali via Pan Am Jet.

Porters got a tip of about 5 pesos for the average load of luggage—this 5-peso piece for instance. But a coin like this one would have done another valuable service for the tourist…an airmail letter to the States cost 3.30 pesos, and a postcard was 1.40 pesos. So this 5-peso piece, with a few centavos change.

v.