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History
Until 1821, the Spanish colonial real circulated in Venezuela. Between 1802 and 1821, the Caracas mint issued reales. In 1811, the United States of Venezuela (Estados Unidos de Venezuela) was declared and issued paper money denominated in reales and pesos, with 8 reales equal to 1 peso. 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. In 1843, Venezuela introduced its own currency, the peso, equal to the Colombian currency. It was subdivided into 10 reales, each of 10 centavos. The peso was replaced in 1874 by the venezolano at par.
Coins
In 1843, copper coins were introduced in denominations of ¼, ½ and 1 centavo. These were followed in 1858 by silver ½, 1, 2 and 5 reales. In 1863, silver 10-real (1-peso) coins were issued, although most were later melted.