Today’s post started with one simple question. What does a $ sign mean on a Venezuelan source document from 2013? (quick answer: bolívar fuerte).
Some currencies are static and well known – they are the easiest to remember. But other currencies have come and gone, and translators deal with documents from many different countries and time periods. So it’s important to know when a dollar ≠ dollar. A $ might come from Argentina, Australia, El Salvador or Puerto Rico – but they don’t mean the same thing. Likewise a peso might come from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico or Uruguay but it won’t have the same value and can’t buy the same quantity of products.
Translation readers need to know if $100,000 is a lot or a little. Italian, Portuguese and Spanish translators need to know about Balboas, Bolívares, Colones, Cruzeiros, Escudos, Francs, Guaraníes, Lempiras, Lire, Meticais, Quetzales, Reais, Soles and Sucres. Do you?
EUR
Did you know that the word euro is always written in singular lowercase?
i.e. euro not Euros.
USD
Did you know that the original dollar sign comes from the United States, with the initial U from United being placed directly on top of the S from States, and then eventually the curve on the bottom of the U was deleted.
Peso
Did you know that the dollar sign with two strokes and the peso sign with one stroke ($) are the same symbol in different fonts? Try changing the font from Aptos to Garamond on your computer and see what happens.
These are the things that good translators need to know. We care.
So to answer today’s question about the Venezuelan $ I have done the hard work and compiled the following tables. The information comes from my own knowledge and many different sources, but always make sure to do your own research when it really matters. This is just a quick whip around the world of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries in translation 🙂
Currencies in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
| Country | Name | Symbol | ISO 4217 code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Peso | $ | ARS |
| Australia | Dollar | $ | AUD |
| Bolivia | Boliviano | $b | BOB |
| Brazil | Real | R$ | BRL |
| Chile | Peso | $ | CLP |
| Costa Rica | Colón | ₡ | CRC |
| Cuba | Peso | ₱ | CUP |
| Colombia | Peso | $ | COP |
| Dominican Republic | Peso | $ | DOP |
| Ecuador | Sucre (pre-1999) US Dollar (post-2000) | S/. $ | ECS USD |
| El Salvador | Colón | $ | SVC |
| Guatemala | Quetzal | Q | GTQ |
| Honduras | Lempira | L | HNL |
| Italy | Lira (pre-1998) Euro (post-1999) | ₤ € | ITL EUR |
| Mexico | Peso | $ | MXN |
| Mozambique | Metical | MT | MZN |
| Nicaragua | Córdoba | C$ | NIO |
| Panama | Balboa | B/. | PAB |
| Paraguay | Guaraní | ₲ | PYG |
| Peru | Sol | S/. | PEN |
| Portugal | Escudo Euro | $ | PTE EUR |
| Puerto Rico | US dollar | $ | USD |
| Spain | Peseta (pre-2001) Euro (2002) | ₧ € | ESP EUR |
| Switzerland | Franc | Fr or ₣ | CHF |
| Uruguay | Peso | $U | UYU |
| Venezuela | Bolívar | Bs. | VEB/VES/VEF/VED |
Currencies used in Brazil
| Year | Name | Symbol | ISO 4217 Code | Conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1747 | Real | Rs$ | ||
| 1942 | Cruzeiro | Cr$ | 1 cruzeiro = 1,000 réis | |
| 1967 | Cruzeiro Novo | NCr$ | 1 cruzeiro novo= 1,000 cruzeiros | |
| 1970 | Cruzeiro | Cr$ | BRB | 1 cruzeiro = 1 cruzeiro novo |
| 1986 | Cruzado | Cz$ | BRC | 1 cruzado = 1,000 cruzeiros |
| 1989 | Cruzado Novo | NCz$ | BRN | 1 cruzado novo = 1,000 cruzados |
| 1990 | Cruzeiro | Cr$ | BRE | 1 cruzeiro = 1 cruzado novo |
| 1993 | Cruzeiro Real | CR$ | BRR | 1 cruzeiro real = 1,000 cruzeiros |
| 1994 | Real | R$ | BRL | 1 real = 2,750 cruzeiros reales |
| Unidade Real de Valor | URV |
Currencies used in Venezuela
| Year | Name | Symbol | ISO 4217 code | Conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezolano | ||||
| 1879 | Bolívar | Bs | VEB | 5 bolívares = 1 venezolano |
| 2008 | Bolívares fuertes | Bs.F | VEF | 1 bolívar fuerte = 1,000 bolívares |
| 2018 | Bolívar soberano | Bs.S | VES | 1 bolívar soberano = 100,000 bolívares fuertes |
| 2021 | Bolívar digital | Bs.D | VED | 1 bolívar digital = 1,000,000 bolívares soberanos |
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