5000 Bolívares

Venezuela's highest-denomination note of the late 1990s, the 5000 Bolívar was introduced as chronic inflation eroded the purchasing power of smaller denominations — by the mid-1990s, Venezuela had endured years of currency instability tied directly to oil price volatility and the fallout from the catastrophic 1994 banking crisis, which wiped out roughly half the country's financial institutions. The note's issuance was a practical concession to daily commerce, not a policy choice anyone at the BCV made willingly.

The print date of 30 April 1945 in this catalog entry almost certainly reflects a plate approval or charter reference date, not actual production — worth querying before attribution is finalized.