Information about currency: Venezuelan Gold Bolívar

The monetary law of June 2, 1887 made gold an unlimited legal tender. Full-bodied silver (i.e., 0·900 fine) was legal tender to 500 bolívares, subsidiary silver (0·835 fine) to 50 bolívares, and nickel and copper to 20 bolívares. The bolívar was defined as equal to the gold franc or peseta, 290·322 mg fine gold (par: 5·18 per US dollar and 25·22 per pound sterling). The gold standard came into full operation in 1910.

The decade (1888–1899) after the fall of Guzmán Blanco was one of civil strife that exhausted the national treasury. The urgent need for small change in 1893 was met by ordering small denomination silver from Paris and then nickel coins from Berlin. The coins ordered from Berlin, May 25, 1896, were the same type, diameter, and weight as thse of 1876–1877, only the denomination differing, the new 5 céntimos being equal to the old centavo (and it was often called a centavo).

Restrictions were placed on gold export in 1914, but banknotes never ceased being convertible into gold domestically. After war began, the exchange rate on New York depreciated slightly, but soon went to a premium. In April 1918 the US dollar cost only 4·32 bolívares. The monetary law of June 24, 1918 confirmed the bolívar de oro as equal to 290·323 mg fine gold. The exchange rate continued moving up and down, and did not stabilize until January 1924, after which the exchange rate remained around par.