100 Bolívares José M. Vargas

José María Vargas was a physician and scientist who served as President of Venezuela from 1835 to 1836 — one of the few Latin American heads of state of the nineteenth century with no military background whatsoever. His election was itself contested by the military, who launched the "Revolución de las Reformas" almost immediately after he took office, briefly forcing him from power before loyalist forces restored him. He resigned permanently in 1836, exhausted by the instability.

This 1986 commemorative belongs to a run of Venezuelan silver issues that preceded the country's sharp currency devaluations of the late 1980s, after which silver coin production effectively ceased.