In recent years the South American nation of Venezuela has become increasingly unstable economically, politically, and socially. The Venezuelan Bolivar, named after the famed South American general and politician, has depreciated accordingly in light of Venezuela’s troubles rendering the Bolivar virtually worthless. Regardless, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced a monetary reform that entailed a revaluation of the Venezuelan Bolivar and the introduction of a state-sponsored cryptocurrency. The Bolivar Soberano, as it is known, was launched on August 20th, 2018, at an exchange rate of 100,000 old bolivars to 1 Bolivar Soberano. The initial release in 2018 included a range of brightly colored notes denominated in 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 bolivars. However, due to rising inflation, the incumbent Venezuelan government introduced a 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000 Bolivar note in 2019. Today the 50,000 Bolivar remains the highest valued note in circulation. However, its value is only an estimated 3 cents when rounded as of today. Currently, the Venezuelan government plans to introduce a 100,000 Bolivar note sometime in the near future. As a result of Venezuela’s economic and political woes, the Bolivar has essentially been rendered valueless and little more than a numismatic curiosity. Nonetheless, in scenes reminiscent of postwar-Germany or Hungary, notes are seen littering the streets. In contrast, merchants have been seen crafting handbags and clothing from discarded banknotes like the ones I've shared below. 2 bolívares soberano 5 bolívares soberano 10 bolívares soberano 20 bolívares soberano 50 bolívares soberano 100 bolívares soberano 200 bolívares soberano 500 bolívares soberano Likewise, if you are to do a simple eBay search for Venezuelan banknotes, the search results will yield a litany of offerings. For example, one can buy bundles of Venezuelan banknotes by the hundreds. With all that being said, please post your examples of Venezuelan coins or banknotes, whether recent or old.
I couldn't agree more with you @hotwheelsearl. Anyway, I'll post a complete set of the notes that circulated before these sometime tomorrow.
Nice colorful notes you have there. Here's a Venezuelan gold coin I bought sometime last year when gold was priced a lot lower than it is today.
Venezuela does really have nice looking money. Also their notes are very crispy and have a genuine feel to them.
The Venezuelan Bolivar, for much of its history, had been one of the most stable currencies in South American. However, since 2007 the Bolivar has steadily lost much of its value while Venezuela’s oil production cratered and mismanagement at the hands of the socialist government. In response to Venezuela’s misfortunes, the Bolivar Fuerte was introduced in 2007 to supplant the old Bolivar at a rate of 1000 to 1. The name translates literally to “strong bolivar” and was intended to stabilize Venezuela’s currency. However, by November 2016, the Bolivar Fuerte entered hyperinflation, and by the end of 2018, the Bolivar Fuerte had an annual inflation rate of 80,000%. (1/2) 2 bolívares fuertes 5 bolívares fuertes 10 bolívares fuertes 20 bolívares fuertes 50 bolívares fuertes 100 bolívares fuertes 500 bolívares fuertes 1,000 bolívares fuertes 2,000 bolívares fuertes 5,000 bolívares fuertes
I've bought complete sets of Venezuelan currency from there, including the coins because they are interesting. It is sad, they have lovely money but can't seem to get their economy and politics settled. Venezuela with it's oil was a founding member of OPEC and was one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America but politics took hold and bankrupted the country. I know quite a few people from Venezuela that loved their lives there until about 20 years ago when they had to leave because of what happened. Recently Venezuela has had to introduce forms of cryptocurrency because they were apparently not paying De La Rue for the banknotes that were printed and shipped to the country. In the news today they are ditching the crypto and dollarizing the economy.
It's regrettable what happened to Venezuela. I knew about Venezuela's ongoing dispute with De La Rue Printing, and I believe they switched sources to a Russian printing company. Regardless, didn't Zimbabwe dollarize its economy back in the early 2010s?
Zimbabwe has gone back and forth with their currency. They print currency and "bond" notes but even though Robert Mugabe's reign is over the political situation there is no less chaotic.