Venezuela 1944 1/2 bolivar
Venezuela fully adopted a decimal coinage system in 1871, with 100 centavos = one venezuelano. By 1879, denominations were renamed centimos and bolivares, such that 100 centimos = one 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'.
Shown is a 1944 half bolivar, minted in Denver. The denomination is shown on the reverse as GR.2,500. The second specimen was lot 46173 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $132. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA. 1/2 Bolivar, 1944. PCGS MS-66+ Gold Shield. Pop: 1, none graded finer by PCGS. Variety with accent mark. A lustrous and attractive coin with speckled peripheral toning."
Recorded mintage: 500,000.
Specifications: 2.5 g, 0.835 fine silver, 0.0671 oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Y 21a.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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