Set Description:
The conversion from bolívar fuerte (Bs.F or VEF) to bolívar soberano (Bs.S or VES) banknotes officially occurred on 20 August 2018 (this happens to be my mother’s birthday - fun bit of family history mixed in). At that time, new denominations of Bs.S 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500. Four months after their, shops and state banks started refusing to accept the 2 Bs.S note on the basis that it was essentially worthless. By November 2019, except for the Bs.S. 500, all notes issued in 2018 were effectively worthless and most people preferred to receive a small candy or a small pack of sugar instead of taking any of the banknotes issued in 2018. Packets of sugar, which shops in the US generally give away for free with coffee or similar purchases, was more desirable than the highest denomination note in the first Bs.S series.
A new series of BsS notes was released in 2019, but the 2019 series contained only 3 new notes. In a move similar to what was seen in Zimbabwe at the end of 2008, the severity of the hyperinflation caused the central bank to “Skip ahead,” and bypass several denominations that would have seemed logical / that you normally would have expected to see in this series. So, there is no Bs.S 1000, or 2000, or 5000. They skipped right to 10,000 BsS with the P-109, 20000 BsS with the P-110, and 50000 BsS with the P-111.
In 2021 another 3 note series was released with denominations of 200 000 BsS, 500 000 BsS, and 1 Million BsS. So far, P-114.
When the new notes were released in 2019, the Central Bank of Venezuela did not mention inflation at all. They laughably claimed that the new banknotes would "complement and optimize" the monetary system and that their purpose was to make payment systems "more efficient" Who can make this stuff up?
According to xe.com, on 23 April 2020, 1 USD was equal to 144697 VES. On 24 April 2020, it was 1 USD : 171140 VES. By Aug 2020, the 50000 BsS note was worth US$0.15.
1,000 Bolivares (Bs) = 1 Bolivar Fuerte (BsF)
100,000 Bolivares Fuertes (BsF) = 1 Bolivar Soberano (BsS)
100,000,000 Bolivares (Bs) = 1 Bolivar Soverano (BsS)
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