10 Centavos de Boliviano overprinted on P# 188

Bolivia's hyperinflationary crisis of the mid-1980s was among the worst in recorded history — peak annual inflation reached approximately 24,000 percent in 1985. The overprint program that produced this note was a direct consequence: rather than print new low-denomination paper, the Banco Central applied centavo values onto existing boliviano stock after the 1987 monetary reform introduced the boliviano fuerte at a conversion rate of one million to one. The old currency became, quite literally, a substrate for the new one.

Overprint issues of this type were transitional instruments, rarely held long enough to accumulate serious wear before being replaced by purpose-printed notes.