Strength and Sovereignty
VEN111a, 2019, 50,000 VES

Slot Comment:

Bolivares Soberanos (Sovereign Bolivar) Wide Seg. Sec. Thread

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Note Details

  

Set Details
Note Description: 50,000 Bolívares 2019 - Wmk: S. Bolívar & BCV
Grade: 67 EPQ
Country: Venezuela
Note Number: VEN111a
Signatures/
Vignettes: 		- With Wide Seg. Sec.
Thread
Certification #: 8079610-041
Owner: Revenant
Set Category: World
Set Name: Strength and Sovereignty
Slot Name: VEN111a, 2019, 50,000 VES
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

There is a certain dripping irony in these notes, in my opinion. The currency was named the “Bolivar” to honor Simon Bolivar. I think the people who designed these notes put Simon at the end of the run of designs – on the highest denomination in each of the 6-note series of the Bolivar Fuertes notes – out of respect and to show Simon Bolivar in honor. They put him on the 100 Bolivares Fuertes note – it is like putting Benjamin Franklin on the $100 in the US… And now his name and face are all over this fiscal and monetary disgrace. You have to think he would be spinning in his grave to witness it.

Adding to the irony – his grave is on these notes! Well… his latest grave anyway. The “Mausoleum of the Liberator,” is on the back side of the note. What has been done with his remains in the ~190 years since his passing raises the question of whether the Venezuelan government has ever understood the meaning of the phrase, “may he rest in peace.”

Simon Bolivar was originally laid to rest in late 1830 at the Cathedral of Santa Marta - he died in Santa Marta. Twelve years later, in 1842, at the request of President Jose Antonio Paez, his remains were moved to the Cathedral of Caracas. In 1876, 34 years after the first move, his remains were moved again to the National Pantheon of Venezuela - created in the 1870s on the site of the ruined Santísima Trinidad church from 1744 on the northern edge of old Caracas.

The entire central nave is dedicated to Simón Bolívar, with the altar's place taken by his bronze sarcophagus. Lesser national figures are relegated to the aisles. The national pantheon's vault is covered with 1930s paintings depicting scenes from Bolívar's life. A huge crystal chandelier was installed in 1883 on the centennial of Bolivar’s birth.

But… I guess that was not good enough for Hugo Chavez.

After having his remains exhumed for testing in 2011 (see VEN99) Chavez - who was a self-professed super-fan of Bolivar’s - decided that “The Liberator” needed a new resting place “fitting of his glory.” So, the government commissioned a new ~US$100 Million 54 m tall structure, that fans compared to snowy mountains that set the scene for great revolutionary struggles… and critics compared to a giant skateboard ramp. Many criticized the move. Some questioned if this was the right way to honor a national hero - by removing his remains from the company of other national heroes. Others criticized the lack of transparency and openness in the way the new tomb was commissioned, designed, and built.

The Guardian criticized it by calling it a monument to Chavez - not to Bolivar - with some saying that the entire thing was more a statement from and about Chavez than it had anything to do with Bolivar. Some, in turn, have criticized Chavez’s emphasis on national heroes and individuals because it counters the government narrative about history changing as the result of “movements” and “revolutions” and not because of the actions and wills of individuals.

At the time it was announced and released to circulation in Jun 2019, this note was worth about US$10, with the Bolivar Soberano worth about one fifth of an American cent (USS1 : 500 BsS).

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