Catalog
20.000 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Central de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 2019 |
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| Size | 156 x 69 mm |
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| Obverse description | Predominantly green note with a central intaglio portrait of Simón Bolívar after the canonical likeness, set within a fine guilloche underprint. The denomination '20000' appears in large numerals at upper centre, with the inscription 'VEINTE MIL BOLÍVARES' and the date '22 de Enero de 2019' below; the issuing authority 'República Bolivariana de Venezuela' is printed across the top. Two facsimile signatures of BCV officials appear at lower left, above a security thread band running horizontally across the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | República Bolivariana de Venezuela 20000 VEINTE MIL BOLÍVARES 22 de Enero de 2019 Pagaderos al Portador en las Oficinas del Banco PRESIDENTE BCV PRIMER VICEPRESIDENTE BCV |
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| Comments |
Venezuela's Casa de la Moneda had been printing the country's own currency since 2015, a political decision driven by the government's reluctance to continue paying foreign printers — chiefly De La Rue — amid foreign currency shortages. Domestic production cut costs in bolivars but introduced real constraints on security feature sophistication, and the 2019 series reflects those limits: the thread, watermark, and latent image package is notably modest against international standards for high-denomination notes.
The 20,000 Bolívar Soberano was obsolete almost immediately. Hyperinflation had already rendered it functionally worthless in daily commerce by the time distribution reached provincial branches.