Venezuelan Coins

Venezuelan coins carry the portrait of Simón Bolívar — El Libertador — the man who freed five South American nations from Spanish rule and whose name was given to the currency of the country he was born in. The bolívar was established in 1879 and for most of the twentieth century was one of the strongest currencies in the Americas, backed by the largest proven oil reserves on earth and strong enough that middle-class Venezuelans traveled to Miami on shopping trips that became a national joke.

The coins in this collection span the full arc of that currency — from the oil-backed confidence of the mid-twentieth century through the redenominations that followed. The bolívar fuerte replaced the original in 2008, removing three zeros. The bolívar soberano replaced that in 2018, removing five more. The bolívar digital replaced that in 2021, removing six more. Fourteen zeros removed in thirteen years. Bolívar's portrait survived every redenomination. The value of the currency that carries his name tells a different story depending on which coin you hold and which decade it comes from.