Venezuelan bolívar
The bolívar [boˈliβaɾ] is the official currency of Venezuela. Named after the hero of South American independence Simón Bolívar, it was introduced following the monetary reform in 1879, before which the venezolano was circulating. Due to its decades-long reliance on silver and gold standards, and then on a peg to the United States dollar, it was considered among the most stable currencies and was internationally accepted until 1964, when the government decided to adopt a floating exchange rate instead.
bolívar digital venezolano (Spanish)
VED (numeric: 926)
VES (numeric: 928)
ISO 4217 Standard definition:
- "Data Standards, ISO 4217 - Currency Code Maintenance: Get the Correct Currency Code". www.six-group.com. SIX Group. 2022-10-01.
- "List One: Currency, fund and precious metal codes" (XLS). www.six-group.com. SIX Group. 2022-09-23.
- "List Two: Fund codes registered with the Maintenance Agency" (XLS). www.six-group.com. SIX Group. 2018-08-29.
- "List Three: Codes for historic denominations of currencies and funds" (XLS). www.six-group.com. SIX Group. 2018-08-22.
- "Overview Amendments" (XLSX). www.six-group.com. SIX Group. 2022-09-23.
0.01
bolívar
bolívares
Bs. [1] or Bs.D
bolo(s), luca(s), real(es)
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--6DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
VED series: Bs. 5, Bs. 10, Bs. 20, Bs. 50, Bs. 100
25, 50 céntimos, Bs. 1
Since 1983, the currency has experienced a prolonged period of high inflation, losing value almost 500-fold against the US dollar in the process. The depreciation became manageable in the mid-2000s, but it still stayed in double digits.[6] It was then, on 1 January 2008, that the hard bolívar (bolívar fuerte in Spanish, sign: Bs.F, code: VEF) replaced the original bolívar (sign: Bs; code: VEB) at a rate of Bs.F 1 to Bs. 1,000[1][7] (the abbreviation Bs. is due to the first and the final letters of the plural form of the currency's name, bolívares).
The value of the hard bolívar, pegged to the US dollar, did not stay stable for long despite attempts to institute capital controls. Venezuela entered another period of abnormally high inflation in 2012, which the country has not exited as of April 2023. The central bank stuck to the pegged subsidised exchange rate until January 2018, which was overpriced so people began using parallel exchange rates despite a ban on publishing them. From 2016 to 2019 and again in 2020, the currency experienced hyperinflation for a total period of 38 months.[8]
The rampant inflation prompted another two redenominations. The first occurred in August 2018, when Bs.F 100,000 were exchanged for 1 sovereign bolívar (bolívar soberano in Spanish, sign: Bs.S, code: VES).[9] The second one, dubbed the "nueva expresión monetaria" or new monetary expression, occurred on 1 October 2021, when Bs.S 1,000,000 were exchanged for 1 digital bolívar[a] (bolívar digital in Spanish, sign: Bs.D, code: VED),[10][11] thus making Bs.D 1 worth Bs. 100,000,000,000,000 (1014, or Bs. 100 trillion in short scale).
Both Bs.S and Bs.D currencies are in circulation,[12] though the economy has undergone extensive currency substitution, so the majority of transactions happen in US dollars, or, to a lesser extent, the Colombian peso.[8][13][14]
bolívar (Spanish)
VEB
bolívares
Bs
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#3__answer--3DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#3__answer--5DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
céntimos
Bs. 1,000, Bs. 2,000, Bs. 5,000, Bs. 10,000, Bs. 20,000, Bs. 50,000
Bs. 10, Bs. 20, Bs. 50, Bs. 100, Bs. 500, Bs. 1,000
VEF
bolívares fuertes
Bs.F or Bs.
bolo(s), luca(s), real(es)
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__answer--4DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__answer--6DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
Bs.F 1,000, Bs.F 2,000, Bs.F 5,000, Bs.F 10,000, Bs.F 20,000, Bs.F 100,000[1]
Bs.F 2, Bs.F 5, Bs.F 10, Bs.F 20, Bs.F 50, Bs.F 100, Bs.F 500
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__answer--9DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
Bs.F 1, Bs.F 10, Bs.F 50, and Bs.F 100[1]
80,000% (2018 est.)[18]
US$1 = BsF. 248,832 (Dicom auction)[1]
(see this section for parallel market rate)[19]
VES (numeric: 928)
0.01
bolívares
Bs. or Bs.S
bolo(s), luca(s), real(es)
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#5__answer--5DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
VES series: Bs.S 10,000, Bs.S 20,000, Bs.S 50,000, Bs.S 200,000, Bs.S 500,000, Bs.S 1,000,000
Banknotes[edit]
Bolívar[edit]
In 1940, the Banco Central de Venezuela began issuing paper money, introducing denominations of Bs. 10, Bs. 20, Bs. 50, Bs. 100 and Bs. 500. Bs. 5 notes were issued between 1966 and 1974, when they were replaced by coins. In 1989, notes for Bs. 1, Bs. 2 and Bs. 5 were issued.
As inflation took hold, higher denominations of banknotes started being introduced: Bs. 1,000 in 1991, Bs. 2,000 and Bs. 5,000 in 1994, and Bs. 10,000, Bs. 20,000 and Bs. 50,000 in 1998. The first Bs. 20,000 banknotes were made in a green color similar to the one of the Bs. 2,000 banknotes, which caused confusion, and new banknotes were made in a new olive green color.
Starting from 2000, banknotes ranging from Bs. 5,000 to Bs. 50,000 were renamed to REPÚBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA instead of BANCO CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA on the obverse, after the 1999 constitution was adopted. Moreover, banknotes of Bs. 10,000, Bs. 20,000 and Bs. 50,000 were updated in April 2006 after the National Assembly approved changes to the coat of arms, which were made official on March 12, 2006.
The following is a list of former Venezuelan bolívar banknotes: