Rumors recently surfaced in a Colombia Reports article dated 2 April 2012 that the back of Colombia’s 1,000-peso (US$0.55) note (B985 and B986)—first issued in 2001—contains an image of Cuba’s former leader, Fidel Castro, as a young student in the crowd behind Colombian presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala. However, in a follow-up article, the banknote’s designer, Jose Antonio Suarez, denies that he inserted Castro into the crowd and insists the likeness is merely a coincidence. According to the article, Banco de la República de Colombia plans to replace the 1,000-peso note with a coin in October.
Courtesy of Christof Zellweger.