Venezuela 1901 bolivar
This specimen was lot 31702 in Heritage sale 3049 (Long Beach, September 2016), where it sold for $881.25. The catalog description[1] noted, "Republic Bolivar 1901 AU58 NGC. Obv. Head of Bolivar left. Rev. Arms, with date below. Nearly full mint luster, with nice definition and light contact marks. The first year of the type, with the lowest mintage. Very scarce." Venezuela adopted a decimal coinage system in 1871, with 100 centavos = 1 venezuelano. By 1879, denominations were renamed centimos and bolivares, such that 100 centimos = 1 bolivar. A crown was equivalent to five bolivares. The official title of the country from 1864 was 'Estados Unidos de Venezuela', a name it would carry until 1953, when the constitution mandated a return to the name 'Republica de Venezuela'. This product of the Paris mint is a key date.
Recorded mintage: 323,000.
Specification: 5 g, 0.835 fine silver, 0.2695 oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-Y22.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Stohr, Tomas, El Circulante en la Capitania General de Venezuela, Caracas, Banco Central de Venezuela, 1998.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World Coin Auction 3049, featuring the Ohio Valley Collection, the Redwood Collection and the F.P. Briand Collection, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2016.
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