How to recognise which banknotes are in circulation?

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john_rebus
john_rebus

Hello,

As I have already mentioned, I will be in Venezuela in February. However, I was wondering (and I haven't found any relevant post) if you exchange your money for the 1st time in the black market how you could be sure that you get back banknotes of bolivares or bolivares fuertes which are in circulation and not to be cheated with money that has been withdrawn from circulation?

In Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_bol%C3%ADvar) I see 2 series of Bolivares and 1 new series of Bolivares Fuertes. Both of them are in current use or now only the Bolivares Fuertes?

I have another critical question. If you arrive in the airport where is the best place to get your first Bolivares? Or is it better and safer for the first time there to withdraw a small amount from an ATM just for the ride with the taxi and then in the center to make the cash exchange with the black marketeer out of the hotel/posada/restaurant?

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hodunn
hodunn

Hi. For you to stop being hectic, he he, old Bolívares banck notes are no longer available anywhere. However, we're using mixed coins, both old and new formats, so be aware of quantities equivalence such as 50 céntimos (new) and 500 bolívares (old), or 1 bolívar (new) and 1.000 bolívares (old), and so on. However, there're to major features to take into account: old bank notes showed "thousands": 1.000, 2.000, 5.000, 10.000, 20.000 and 50.000. And they were displayed horizontally. New bank notes are expressed as units and tens: 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. And they are displayed vertically.

Concerning the exhange issue: do what you said. Exhange a little amount (i.e. 100$) at Italcambio or any other house at the airport when just arrived (by the way, there's a new official rate > Bs. 4,30 equals 1 US$)... then, when contacted with friends, relatives, trust people or a tour operator, exchange higher amounts or pay tourism services (for instance: lodging, guided tours, etc.) with US$ or € at a negotiated rate.

Good luck!

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john_rebus
john_rebus

thanx for the info!

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