Venezuela 1903 2 bolivares
Venezuela fully adopted a decimal coinage system in 1871, with 100 centavos = 1 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 1903 two bolivares, minted in Philadelphia. The denomination is shown on the reverse as GRAM.10. This specimen was lot 43644 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "VENEZUELA. 2 Bolivares, 1903. Philadelphia Mint. NGC EF-45."
Recorded mintage: 200,000.
Specification: 10 g, 0.835 fine silver, 0.2695 oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-Y23; Stohr-63.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th 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 January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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