Catalog
2 Bolívares
| Issuer | Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1879-1936 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 27.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A bare-headed, draped bust of Simón Bolívar faces left, rendered in high relief with finely detailed hair swept back from the forehead, the work of engraver Désiré-Albert Barre. The legend 'BOLÍVAR' curves along the left periphery and 'LIBERTADOR' along the right, flanking the effigy. The engraver's name 'BARRE' appears in small capitals at the base of the truncation. The design is framed by a beaded border running around the full circumference. |
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| Reverse lettering | BOLÍVAR LIBERTADOR BARRE (Translation: Bolivar Liberator) |
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| Additional information |
Venezuela adopted the bolívar monetary system in 1879, pegging it to the Latin Monetary Union standard — a deliberate alignment with French monetary policy that shaped the coin's specifications exactly. The 2 bolívares was struck across several decades by European contract mints, primarily Paris and Brussels, as Venezuela lacked domestic minting capacity for silver coinage of this size.
Production effectively ceased after 1936 with the death of Juan Vicente Gómez, whose 27-year dictatorship had kept Venezuelan monetary policy unusually stable. Post-Gómez economic reforms made the denomination redundant within a few years.