Catalog
500 Bolivianos
| Issuer | Banco Central de Bolivia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Bolivianos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of miners at work inside a mine shaft, rendered in detailed intaglio engraving with figures operating equipment amid timber supports and rock faces. The denomination '500 BOLIVIANOS' appears in panels at left and right, flanked by ornate guilloche borders. Bank name and denomination inscriptions run along the top and bottom margins in letterpress. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO CENTRAL DE BOLIVIA 500 BOLIVIANOS QUINIENTOS BOLIVIANOS CINCUENTA BOLIVARES |
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| Comments |
Bolivia's wartime economy ran on export revenue from tin — the country was one of the Allied powers' principal suppliers — and the 1945 series reflects a moment of relative monetary stability before the inflationary pressures of the late 1940s began to erode the boliviano's purchasing power. Thomas De La Rue handled the printing throughout the Banco Central's earlier series, and the relationship was longstanding enough that plate designs were largely recycled across denominations with minimal revision.
The watermark is the sole mechanical security feature. By the early 1950s, this denomination had been rendered effectively worthless by hyperinflation, and the 1963 monetary reform replaced the boliviano at 1,000:1 with the peso boliviano.