Catalog
8 Pesos
| Issuer | Estados Unidos de Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Year | 1811 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Hipotecados sobre las Rentas Nacionales de la CONFEDERACION T. XXXIV Número Ocho Pesos Ley del 27 de Agosto de 1811 Año primero de la Independencia ESTADOS UNIDOS DE VENEZUELA 1811 CONFEDERACION AL SACRIFICIO O A LA MUERTE |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, presenting plain laid paper that has acquired significant foxing and age-toning consistent with its early nineteenth-century origin. A vertical central fold is visible, and faint bleed-through impressions from the obverse stamps can be discerned. No printed text, vignette, or security device was applied to this side. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Venezuela's 1811 emission was among the earliest paper currency issues in South American independence-era history, authorized by the newly declared First Republic just months before its collapse under royalist forces and the catastrophic earthquake of March 1812. The notes were issued by the Junta Suprema de Caracas through what was effectively a war finance operation — the republic needed to fund its armies and had little else to offer but paper promises.
Survival rate is extraordinarily low. The First Republic lasted barely a year, and the returning royalist administration had every reason to suppress these instruments. Most were destroyed, lost, or voided. Genuine examples of this denomination are among the rarest documents of early Venezuelan independence.