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Czeslaw Slania's Engraved Banknotes 
for Venezuela

• 1984.  Pick # 84.  Banknote of 20 Bolivares.  Jose Antonio Paez. Venezuelan revolutionist, president, and caudillo. He boldly led (1810-19) a band of llaneros [plainsmen] in skillful guerrilla warfare against the Spanish, aided Simón Bolívar at the battle of Carabobo (1821), and drove (1823) the Spanish from their last Venezuelan stronghold at Puerto Cabello. He led the separatist movement that disrupted Bolívar's Colombian republic and was the first president of Venezuela (1831-35). A conservative oligarch and exponent of personalism, he served again (1839-43), dominating the nation until 1847. Páez commanded unsuccessful revolutions in 1848 and 1849 against José T. Monagas, his own choice for president, and was exiled (1850-58). He returned and in 1861 became supreme dictator. Two years later he again went into exile. He died in New York City.   
  IMPORTANT NOTICE.
  The earlier banknote, of the same design, but without dates, was not engraved by Slania, but someone else.  When the original plate was damaged, Slania was asked to engrave another one.  Slania's note is easily recognizable by the absence of "CARACAS" under the name "BANCO CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA".

• 1984.  Reverse side of the same note (not engraved by Slania).

• 1981.  Pick # 60a.  Reverse side of a 10-bolivares banknote, signed by Slania in the lower left corner, and showing the Victory of Pichincha (1822).   Slania has only engraved the reverse side.  It may be interesting to know that this is the banknote, picturing horses, that convinced Slania to start engraving banknotes.

• 1980.  Front side of the same banknote, showing Marshal Antonio Jose de Sucre (1795-1830).  Slania has NOT engraved the front side, and it is therefore shown here in thumbnail-format (not engraved by Slania).

The Venezuela 10 Bolivares was initially issued as a paper note dated 29 January 1980.  It was modified in many small ways, by the printer (American Bank Note Company)  for a trial run in plastic (not issued).

Sucre State (Venezuela) takes the name of one of the greatest heros of the New World: Antonio Jose de Sucre, Grand Marshal of Ayacucho, that was born in  Cumaná the 3 of February of 1795 and died in Berruecos (Colombia) in 1830.

Antonio José de Sucre, 1795-1830, South American revolutionist, b. Cumaná, Venezuela. He joined (1811) the forces fighting for independence from Spain and rose to be the chief lieutenant of Simón Bolívar. After Colombia had been liberated from the Spanish, Bolívar sent Sucre to the Quito region (now Ecuador), where he won (1822) the brilliant victory of Pichincha.  Accompanying Bolívar to Peru, he distinguished himself in the revolutionary victory of Junín (Aug., 1824).  Bolívar was absent, and Sucre was the chief commander when the battle of Ayacucho was fought (Dec., 1824).  Sucre's military genius was splendidly displayed in this victory, which assured the independence of South America. The terms he granted to the defeated were generous, and Sucre was known for his kindness as well as his honesty and self-effacing modesty.  It was against his own will that he became president of the newly created state of Bolivia, and he was not happy in the post.

Despite the conciliatory spirit of his rule, an attempt was made on his life. In 1828 he resigned and returned to Quito. A few months later he led the forces that repelled a Peruvian invasion. He was elected president of the constitutional convention that met in 1830 in an effort to prevent Bolívar's large republic of Colombia from disintegrating. Sucre's efforts to prevent Venezuela from seceding and becoming a separate state failed. In June, 1830, when he was riding back from the congress to his home in Quito, he was waylaid by unknown men in a wild mountainous region and killed.

Credits:

• Roy Lingen (Canada) for submitting the information about Jose Antonio Paez, and 

• Blair Stannard (Canada) for the information about de Sucre