Catalog
1 Peso
| Issuer | Estados Unidos de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1811 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Typeset letterpress note with the heading ESTADOS - UNIDOS DE VENEZUELA. across the top, series designation T. 124. at upper left and folio reference F. at upper right. A central circular vignette carries the national coat of arms incorporating a sun, palm tree, and ship motif, encircled by the legend VERIFICADOR PENA DE with the date; the denomination UN PESO. is set below the vignette with the serial prefix N. to its right. Vertical marginal legends read Hipotecado sobre las Rentas Nacionales de la Confederacion. along the left border and Ley del 27 de Agosto de 1811. Año 1° de la Independencia A. along the right border, with multiple manuscript authorizing signatures across the face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Unprinted plain paper reverse on aged stock, carrying a single manuscript notation in ink at center, consistent with a contemporary endorsement or counter-signature. The surface exhibits natural toning, foxing, and fold lines appropriate to a note of this period and circulation history. |
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| Comments |
One of the earliest paper notes issued in the Western Hemisphere by a newly independent republic, this 1 Peso dates to Venezuela's First Republic — a government that lasted less than eighteen months before royalist forces crushed it in 1812. The Sociedad Patriótica, the radical faction that had pushed hardest for independence, also pushed for this paper currency, partly to finance a war the young republic was already losing.
Survivors are extraordinarily rare. The First Republic's collapse was swift and chaotic, and most circulating notes were either destroyed in the disorder or voided by the returning Spanish administration.