50 Bolívares Central Bank

Venezuela began issuing these gold 50 Bolívares pieces in 2010 under the Bolívar Fuerte monetary system, itself introduced in 2008 to lop three zeros off the original bolívar amid chronic inflation. The irony is considerable: a nation whose economy was already deteriorating under currency controls chose to produce a .999 fine gold coin that virtually no ordinary Venezuelan would ever handle.

The Banco Central de Venezuela held one of Latin America's largest gold reserves at the time, much of it repatriated by Chávez from European vaults in 2011.