Currency of Colombia that the bank no longer existed). The period 1899–1903 witnessed revolution, civil war (the Thousand Days War of 1899–1902), inflation, and depreciation. There were numerous note issues of various kinds. Then calm slowly returned. A law of 25 October 1903 prohibited new paper money issues, permitted payment in gold to be stipulated in contracts, and reintroduced the gold peso ("peso oro"), equal to 100 paper pesos, effective 1 January 1904. Outstanding notes were absorbed by auction sales of gold. "El Banco Nacional de la República de Colombia" issued notes in 1886 for 50 centavos and 1, 5, and 10 pesos.
Gold standard can be removed. Commodity money retains its value despite what may happen to the monetary authority. After the fall of South Vietnam, many refugees carried their wealth to the West in gold after the national currency became worthless. Under commodity standards currency itself has no intrinsic value, but is accepted by traders because it can be redeemed any time for the equivalent specie. A US silver certificate, for example, could be redeemed for an actual piece of silver. Representative money and the gold standard protect citizens from hyperinflation and other abuses of monetary policy, as were seen in some countries