Catalog
10 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Central de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 2018 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Vertically oriented note in purple, orange, blue, and red tones, with a portrait vignette of General Rafael Urdaneta (1788–1845), hero of the War of Independence under Simón Bolívar, positioned centrally. An orientation symbol star and a giant anteater vignette appear below the upper serial number, integrated into the guilloche underprint. The date 15 de enero de 2018 is inscribed alongside the denomination and issuer name. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Venezuelan national crest appears at the right, flanking a central vignette of the Oso Palmero (giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla) set against a background evoking the Catatumbo lightning phenomenon over Lake Maracaibo, rendered in deep blue and violet tones. An oil derrick vignette occupies the right border, referencing Venezuela's petroleum heritage. The composition integrates fine guilloche work with the denomination and issuing authority inscriptions. |
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| Comments |
Venezuela's hyperinflation crisis rendered this note effectively worthless within weeks of issue. The 2018 series was part of a desperate sequence of redenominations — the sovereign bolívar (bolívar soberano) replaced the strong bolívar (bolívar fuerte) at a rate of 1,000 to 1 in August 2018, which itself followed years of triple-digit and then quadruple-digit inflation driven by collapsing oil revenues and price controls.
A print run of just over 12 million is strikingly low for a country that was simultaneously printing hundreds of millions of higher denominations to keep up with daily price increases. The single watermark security feature reflects how little investment the BCV could justify in a denomination that would lose practical utility almost immediately.