Newly issued peso coins have already been counterfeited and are circulating throughout Colombia.
Television station RCN broadcasted that peso coins were being replicated by criminals and warned citizens that the fake coins look very similar to real coins.
Identifying the false coins has proven to be even more difficult since new, differently designed coins were issued by the government in June. Discerning the fake from the real has become problematic since many people are not yet fully familiarized with the new coins.
According to RCN the way to distinguish between an authentic and a counterfeit peso is to use a magnet. Allegedly the 1000, 500 and 200 peso coin metal will not stick to a magnet, whereas the counterfeits will. This trick does not hold true for the 100 and 50 peso coins though, which contain different metal and are attracted to magnets.