Venezuelan real

The real (plural: reales) was the currency of Venezuela until 1843.

History

Until 1821, the Spanish colonial real circulated in Venezuela. In 1802, a mint was opened in Caracas and issued coins denominated in reales until 1821. Paper money was introduced in 1811 denominated in reales and pesos. The Colombian real circulated in Venezuela from 1821, with some coins struck in Caracas. In 1837, the Colombian real was replaced by the Colombian peso (subdivided into 8 reales), which was itself replaced by the Venezuelan peso (subdivided into 10 reales) in 1843. The last real-denominated coins were struck in 1863.

Coins

From 1802, copper ⅛ and ¼ real coins were issued. Silver 1 and 2 reales followed in 1810. In 1812, the Republican government issued copper ⅛ and ¼ real and silver ½ and 1 real. From 1813, the provinces of Guayana and Maracaibo issued copper ⅛ and ¼ real coins. The Royalists issued silver 1, 2 and 4 reales between 1817 and 1821. During the period Venezuela was part of Gran Colombia, silver ¼ real coins were struck at Caracas.

References

• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.