If you want a big coin from Venezuela this is the one... but why does it not note that its "5 Bolivar" anywhere on the coin? I would be interested in buying one, but I don't understand why there is no indication of the coin mint value. Most coins bear at least that, simply I get this is a 25 gram coin and its .900 pure. I have the 50 centimos piece already, but it at least shows the value on the coin. Any answers?
yes, but there is no indication that its 5 Bolivares on it... how does/did one exchange it with no indicator of currency. I get that it was either minted in Paris or USA... so I would definitely be interested.
Bolivar is the person pictured on the coin. "(Simon) Bolivar liberator." I don't know the why, but most of the Venezuelan silvers from this era do not show the denomination, only the weight. It's frustrating if you don't have a catalog to reference to figure out what it is exactly.
The reverse clearly shows the weight in grams. It seems a Bolivar weighed in at 5 grams. Naturally, 5 bolivars would be 5 times that. Conversely, the quarter Bolivar was, 1.25 grams. Now I don't know for certain, but I think it was more important to know the silver weight and fineness in this era because silver's intrinsic value rose and fell regularly. I think this method helped when the market was volatile. Much of Latin America held onto silver in their circulating coins long after the rest of the world switched to base metals. They did this by reducing the size of the coins or the fineness. Much like most people can tell what a coin is without giving it much of a glance, I'm sure people of the time didn't necessarily have a problem figuring out what coin they had. Plus, the law may not even require the denomination to be on the coin. Interestingly, it seems it's the only coin of the time from Venezuela that is 90%, the rest are the more standard 83.5%.
NGC made a mistake in a description. They state - Obverse: Date on ribbon right of arms 13 DE APRIL DE 1864 It does not say APRIL. It is actually ABRIL which is in Spanish
