Currency of Bolivia
The
boliviano
(
[boli?βjano]
;
sign
:
Bs
[1]
[2]
ISO 4217
code:
BOB
) is the currency of
Bolivia
. It is divided into 100
cents
or
centavos
in Spanish. Boliviano was also the name of the currency of Bolivia
between 1864 and 1963
. From April 2018, the manager of the
Central Bank of Bolivia
, Pablo Ramos, announced the introduction of the new family of banknotes of the
Plurinational State of Bolivia
, started with the 10 Bs note, and then gradually arrived to introduce the 200 Bs note, presented in April 2019.
[3]
The new family of banknotes of the Plurinational State received several awards such as "the best banknotes in Latin America", was highlighted by its security measures, its aesthetics and its inclusion of prominent figures in Bolivian history, being among those who awarded the "Latin American High Security Printing Press Conference".
[4]
History
[
edit
]
Currencies in use before the current second boliviano include:
- The
Spanish real
from the 16th to 19th centuries, with 8 reales equal to 1 peso and 16 reales equal to 1 escudo.
- The
Bolivian sol
from 1827 to 1864, replacing the Spanish real at par. 16 soles were equal to 1
Bolivian escudo
, and 8 soles were equal to 1 boliviano.
- The
first boliviano
from 1864 to 1963, worth eight
soles
and divided into 100
centecimos
(later
centavos
). The name bolivar was used for an amount of ten bolivianos.
- The
peso boliviano
(code BOP), from 1963 to 1986, worth 1,000 first bolivianos.
The second boliviano was introduced in 1987 at a rate of 1 boliviano = 1,000,000
pesos bolivianos
.
Second boliviano
[
edit
]
Following many years of
rampant inflation
, the
bolivian peso
was replaced in 1987 by a new boliviano at a rate of one million to one (when 1 US dollar was worth 1.8/1.9 million pesos). At that time, 1 new boliviano was roughly equivalent to
1
⁄
2
U.S. dollar.
Coins
[
edit
]
In 1988,
stainless-steel
2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centavos and 1 boliviano (dated 1987) coins were introduced, followed by stainless-steel 2 bolivianos in 1991. Copper-plated steel 10 centavos were introduced in 1997 and
bi-metallic
5 bolivianos in 2001. The 2 and 5 centavo coins are no longer in circulation. The 2 boliviano coin has been minted in two sizes, both of which remain legal tender. The smaller 2 boliviano coin is almost the same as the 1 boliviano coin, leading to potential confusion, although the 2 boliviano coins are
undecagonal
whilst the 1 boliviano coins are round.
All the coins in Bolivia have the value with the inscription "La union es la Fuerza" ("Union is strength" in Spanish) on the obverse. Older coins feature and the coat of arms of Bolivia with the inscription "Republica de Bolivia" (Republic of Bolivia) on the reverse, while newer ones feature the coat of arms with the inscription "Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia" (Plurinational state of Bolivia).
Coins of the Boliviano (older series)
[5]
Obverse
|
Reverse
|
Value
|
Technical parameters
|
Description
|
Date of issue
|
Diameter
|
Mass
|
Composition
|
Edge
|
Obverse
|
Reverse
|
|
2 centavos
|
14 mm
|
1 g
|
Stainless steel
|
Plain
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "2 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
"REPUBLICA DE BOLIVIA" (REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA);
Coat of arms of Bolivia
|
1987
|
|
5 centavos
|
17 mm
|
1.5 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "5 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
1987
|
|
|
10 centavos
|
19 mm
|
2.2 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "10 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
1987-1997
|
|
|
2.23 g
|
Copper
plated
steel
|
1997
|
1.85 g
|
2001-2008
|
|
20 centavos
|
22 mm
|
3.66 g
|
Stainless steel
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "20 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
1987-2008
|
|
|
50 centavos
|
24 mm
|
3.8 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "50 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
1987-2008
|
|
1 boliviano
|
27 mm
|
5 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "1 BOLIVIANO"; Date of issue
|
1987-2008
|
|
2 bolivianos
|
27 mm
|
6.25 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "2 BOLIVIANOS"; Date of issue
|
1991
|
|
|
29 mm
|
6.4 g
|
1995-2008
|
|
|
5 bolivianos
|
23 mm
|
5 g
|
Bi-metallic
:
bronze
plated
steel
center with a
stainless steel
ring
|
Reeded
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "5 BOLIVIANOS"; Date of issue
|
2001-2004
|
Coins of the Boliviano (current series)
Obverse
|
Reverse
|
Value
|
Technical parameters
|
Description
|
Date of issue
|
Diameter
|
Mass
|
Composition
|
Edge
|
Obverse
|
Reverse
|
|
10 centavos
|
19 mm
|
2.2 g
|
Steel
|
Plain
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "10 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
"ESTADO PLURINACIONAL DE BOLIVIA" (PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA);
Coat of arms of Bolivia
|
2017
|
|
|
20 centavos
|
22 mm
|
3.25 g
|
Nickel
plated
steel
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "20 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
2010-2016
|
|
50 centavos
|
24 mm
|
3.75 g
|
Stainless steel
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "50 CENTAVOS"; Date of issue
|
2010-2012
|
|
1 boliviano
|
27 mm
|
5 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "1 BOLIVIANO"; Date of issue
|
2010-2017
|
|
2 bolivianos
|
29 mm
|
7 g
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "2 BOLIVIANOS"; Date of issue
|
2010-2017
|
|
5 bolivianos
|
23 mm
|
5 g
|
Bi-metallic coin
consisting of a Bronze-plated steel center plug with a
Stainless steel
outer ring
|
Reeded
|
"LA UNION ES LA FUERZA"; "5 BOLIVIANOS"; Date of issue
|
2017
|
Banknotes
[
edit
]
In 1987, last peso boliviano banknotes and cheques de gerencia were overprinted with denominations in centavos and bolivianos to produce provisional issues of 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos, and 1, 5 and 10 bolivianos. Regular issues followed the same year in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 bolivianos. The 2 boliviano note was replaced by a coin in 1991, with the same happening to the 5 boliviano in 2001, although the Bolivian central bank still lists the 5 boliviano note as "in circulation"
-The 10 Bolivianos bill has in the obverse to the painter Cecilio Guzman and reverse an image of city of
Cochabamba
. -The 20 Boliviano bill has in the obverse to the lawyer Pantaleon Dalence and in the reverse an image of The Golden Colonial House of
Tarija
. The 50 Boliviano bill has in the obverse to the painter Melchor Perez and in the reverse you can see the Tower of Church of the Society of Jesus in the city of
Potosi
- The 100 Boliviano bill has in the obverse of the great historian Gabriel Rene Moreno and the reverse one image of the Mayor Real and Papal University of Saint Francisco Xavier of Chuquisaca in the capital, the city of
Sucre
, the 200 Boliviano bill has to the obverse to the writer and former president of Bolivia, Franz Tamayo and in the reverse an image of ruins of the Pre-Inca empire of Tihuanaco in the shores of Lake Titicaca in the state or department of
La Paz
.
As of 2013. The 2 and 5 Bolivianos bills are officially out of circulation.
[6]
In 2018, the
Central Bank of Bolivia
(Banco Central de Bolivia) unveiled a new family of banknotes, and will be issued by order of denomination. The notes are the first to bear the formal name of Bolivia "Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia" (
Plurinational State of Bolivia
), to reflect the multiculturalism of the country and all of its citizens.
Banknotes of the Boliviano (2018 ? 2019 series)
Image
|
Value
|
Main Color
|
Obverse
|
Reverse
|
Watermark
|
|
10 bolivianos
|
Blue
|
Jose Santos Vargas "El Tambor Vargas",
Apiaguaiki Tumpa
, Eustaquio Mendez "El Moto Mendez". Umajalanta Cavern (
Torotoro National Park
)
|
Landscape of
Isla del Pescado
in
Salar de Uyuni
salt flat.
Giant hummingbird
and
Puya raimondii
|
Jose Santos Vargas, drum and electrotype 10
|
|
20 bolivianos
|
Orange
|
Genoveva Rios
,
Tomas Katari
and Pedro Ignacio Muiba.
El Fuerte de Samaipata
|
Black caiman
and Toborochi (
Ceiba speciosa
)
|
Genoveva Rios
and electrotype 20
|
|
50 bolivianos
|
Purple
|
Jose Manuel Baca "Canoto", Bruno Racua, Pablo Zarate also known as
Willka
. Incallajta Fortress
|
Nevado Sajama
,
Andean flamingo
and
Quinoa
|
Jose Manuel Baca "Canoto", guitar and electrotype 50
|
|
100 bolivianos
|
Red
|
Juana Azurduy de Padilla
,
Alejo Calatayud
,
Antonio Jose de Sucre
.
National Mint of Bolivia
|
Arco Iris Waterfall,
Heliconia rostrata
,
Hyacinth Macaw
|
|
|
200 bolivianos
|
Brown
|
Tupac Katari
,
Bartolina Sisa
,
Simon Bolivar
. House of Freedom
|
Tiwanaku
,
Cantua buxifolia
,
Andean Mountain Cat
|
|
Exchange rates
[
edit
]
In a
fixed exchange rate
regime system, the
Central Bank of Bolivia
undertakes to buy and sell foreign currency at the price it previously set of Bs 6.86 for the purchase and Bs 6.96 for the sale for 1 $US respectively. from November 2011 to the present, which is more than eleven continuous years. The consequences of this system are crucial, although in practice they are not understood in their real dimension of its effects in the short and long term on the country's economy. Since 2023 in Bolivia there has been a shortage of
United States dollar
,
[7]
so the "parallel" dollar began to settle in streets and some exchange houses, reaching an exchange rate of Bs 8.90 for sale for 1 $US.
[8]
although the Central Bank of Bolivia enabled the option of carry out the sale of dollars in their offices at the official price.
[9]
Manufacture and production
[
edit
]
As of 2013 the Boliviano is still manufactured abroad, in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Chile, even though Bolivia has been politically independent since 1825.
[
citation needed
]
Though Bolivia was one of the main mints of the colonial era (
casa de la moneda, Potosi
) the coining and printing of currency stopped due to lack of political interest and on the idea that foreign made coins and banknotes could be acquired at a lower price than the Bolivian-made coins and banknotes.
US dollar-related currency (MVDOL)
[
edit
]
MVDOL
(
ISO 4217
code BOV) is a unit of currency (account). It has a value, inflation-adjusted between the Bolivian boliviano and the
US dollar
. It is used in financial instruments due to its stable value.
The name
wikt:MVDOL
is derived from
moneda nacional con mantenimiento de valor al dolar estadounidense
([Bolivian] national currency with value maintained to the US dollar).
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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North
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Caribbean
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Central
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South
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Proposed
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