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500 Bolívares
| Issuer | Banco Central de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015-2017 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait vignette of Francisco de Miranda in three-quarter view occupies the lower centre of the note, set against a light blue and green guilloche underprint with a ghost image of sailing ships at right. The large numeral '500' appears in dark ink at upper left beneath the issuer inscription, with the written denomination 'QUINIENTOS BOLÍVARES' below; two facsimile signatures with their respective titles run across the middle register. A teal denomination panel at the bottom carries repeated '500' numerals in relief. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | República Bolivariana de Venezuela 500 QUINIENTOS BOLÍVARES PAGADEROS AL PORTADOR EN LAS OFICINAS DEL BANCO PRESIDENTE BCV PRIMER VICEPRESIDENTE BCV FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA (Translation: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 500 FIVE HUNDRED BOLIVARES PAYABLE TO THE BEARER AT THE OFFICES OF THE BANK PRESIDENT BCV FIRST VICE PRESIDENT BCV FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA) |
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| Comments |
Venezuela's domestic printer, the Casa de la Moneda in Maracay, produced this note during a period of accelerating hyperinflation that would ultimately render the entire bolívar fuerte series worthless within years of issue. By 2016, the 500-bolívar denomination — once meaningful — was worth less than a tenth of a U.S. cent at black market rates, and the government was printing ever-larger denominations in a losing race against monetary collapse.
The security specification is notably thin for a note of this period: watermark and thread only, without the optical variable ink or color-shifting elements found on contemporaneous notes from other inflation-stricken economies. That austerity in security likely reflects the cost pressures facing a state already struggling to import basic printing materials.