The Mint of Venezuela (CMV) is an industrial complex which boasts cutting edge technology for minting coins, printing bank notes and producing other securities (fiscal stamps and notes, fiscal paper, etc).

The Banco Central de Venezuela, apart from being the country’s guardian of international reserves, must also guarantee sufficient means of payment (notes and coins) to allow the economy to function normally. The Mint operates by virtue of the Central Bank’s legal right to produce notes and coins.

Since the setting up of the Mint, the Banco Central de Venezuela has been able to guarantee more independent provision of notes and coins, going from being an importer to a producer. This assures sufficient quantities of means of payment in the country, allowing the economy to function normally.

The management of the Mint of Venezuela has responsibilities within the Banco Central de Venezuela equal to the rank of vice presidency. Its structural organization is based on a simple framework: a supervisor, a coordinator and work teams made up of engineers and technicians.

All the staff which make up the teams are trained by means of internships in mints throughout Latin America and Europe and attend training courses given by the Swiss company De la Rue Giori, which provides the printing and minting equipment used by the CMV. It also gives technical advice on the maintenance and functioning of the factory.

The Venezuelan Mint (Casa de la Moneda de Venezuela) is made up of three interconnected factories joined by a walkway so that raw materials and other goods can be moved between them. It covers an area of 22.5 hectares in grounds belonging to the La Placera Hacienda in Maracay, on the Avenida Casanova Godoy, in Girardot Municipality, Maracay, Aragua state.

Its location allows for easy and safe access by road, air and sea, as it is in an area close to the ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello. This is crucial for the transportation of raw materials. It is also close to Caracas and is served by good communication routes and easily available public services.

The bank note factory, whose function is to produce paper money of the highest quality, is located in the south west of the complex. It has areas specifically related to printing, quality control, finishing and semiautomatic finishing, vaults, preparation areas and offices. Among other equipment, it has a high quality Super Simultan II press, which guarantees top quality. This machine can print out 320 million notes per year.



The currency factory, which is in charge of minting legal tender coins, is based in the center of the complex. It has seven Schuler minting machines, with the ability to produce 324 million coins each year.



The securities factory, which produces graphic printed securities such as bonds, Treasury notes, other bonds, tax stamps and fiscal stamps and paper, is in the south east of the complex. It has two presses: one for producing designs and the other for engraving.



The structure also includes a basic services building (which supports the factories’ specialized production processes, such as photomechanics, maintenance workshops, laboratories, refill warehouses, supplies and docking bays for the arrival of raw materials); an administrative services building, which also houses the library and a museum, and the security and custody building.

The Venezuelan Mint’s installations have been constructed as an ‘intelligent building’, which means they are a safe and productive work environment providing optimum comfort and use of resources.

Being centralized, with easy access and automatic control, the systems allow advance routine maintenance tests to be carried out. The centralized control system monitors access and develops security functions, such as protection of the plant’s perimeter, closed circuit television, intruder detection and alarms and fire alarms.

The integration of the sub-systems means the industrial complex’s security is highly reliable. Combined control strategies can be quickly put in place in the event of a security or maintenance incident.

The Venezuelan Mint places high priority on security, given the huge importance of its products to the strategic value of the country.

The security of the Venezuelan Mint is based on its independence, which means all of its technical elements (structure, systems, equipment and human resources) can operate either individually or in combination to prevent and react to any kind of external or internal threat to the installations. This requires the existence of strict and highly reliable security systems that operate according to international regulations.

The most up-to-date and sophisticated electronic access control, detection and monitoring devices have been installed at the plant, guaranteeing a highly reliable security system. In addition, the special selection process for the technical and administrative personnel that work in this industry, and the rigorous selection and training program for the complex’s security staff have led to a cutting edge defense structure. Added to this is the complete automatization of the notes and coins production process. The equipment and machinery are equipped with advanced electronic control systems of the highest quality.

The Venezuelan Mint does not produce environmental pollution. All toxic residues are processed within the factory and from there are transported to the waste center, which stockpiles all the side-products of the production processes and other units in the complex. Each factory has a refinery for treating effluent and technology that enables it to recycle various raw materials. Waste water is treated for re-use in irrigating the gardens and green areas of the industrial complex. There is also a modern air filtration system to prevent external pollution. Around the area of the complex are large green areas that contribute to the protection of the nearby Henri Pittier National Park.

The idea of setting up a mint in Venezuela came about in March 1983, when the directors of the Banco Central de Venezuela decided to purchase a plot of land adjoining the Bank’s institutions then known as the North Block, where the Juan Pedro López Plaza and underground Treasury vaults are currently located.

The BCV authorities, led at the time by Leopoldo Díaz Bruzual, felt it was necessary to improve the country’s level of independence in producing currency. The Bank’s Brazilian counterpart was contracted to carry out the first economic viability study. The conclusions of this study, handed over to the BCV at the start of 1984, were favorable, as were further feasibility studies carried out in 1987, 1990 and 1992.

In 1989 the BCV decided to carry out the project away from the Caracas city center for strategic reasons. The La Placera Hacienda, in Maracay, met all the necessary conditions for such a project, for example being close to ports and good public communication systems, as well as being in one of the country’s important urban centers. In 1998, construction at the Venezuelan Mint industrial complex was practically completed, and in 1999 it started to produce its first Venezuelan Bs.20, Bs.50, Bs.100 and Bs.500 coins featuring the CMV logo. These coins went out of circulation in June 2000.

In 2001, the Venezuelan Mint produced Bs.10, Bs.20, Bs.50, Bs.100 and Bs.500 coins and a new Bs.10.000 note, which was the first to include the text "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". In the same year, the securities factory started to make contacts with the aim of producing tax stamps for various foreign governments.

The history of coin minting in the country started during the period of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, when the governor and captain of the province, Don Manuel de Guevara y Vasconcelos, decreed that tokens made by tradesmen, ranches and businesses themselves in order to honor their transactions were no longer to be used. This was how, on June 12, 1802 a modest workshop in Santiago de León de Caracas started to mint somewhat imperfect copper coins.

Although this had no impact on monetary establishments in other regions of the Americas at the time, this early factory carried the rather pompous name of ROYAL MINT. During the War of Independence it passed alternately from the hands of the royalists to the patriots, depending on who had control of the city at the time, thus providing much-needed hard currency to both sides. It continued production, despite some interruptions (which were sometimes longer than its periods of activity) until July 5, 1830, when Congress decided to close the factory for good.

After Venezuela’s separation from Greater Colombia, movement of goods and people began to increase between 1830 and 1943, involving expenses in foreign currency and the need for national coinage abroad. In the third and last period of government of General Antonio Guzmán Blanco, the second Caracas Mint was set up to replace foreign money in circulation with national currency.

On October 16, 1886 the new mint’s machinery went into operation and Guzmán Blanco was given the first gold Bs.100 coin produced. Upon receiving it from General Jacinto R. Pachano, inspector of the National Government, the President said: “How marvelous, Pachano!”. This expression led to the nickname "pachano" by which this coin was commonly known. As gold from Guyana was used, the coins took on a distinctive greenish gold color, which made them difficult to fake. In the same month, by decree, it became illegal to import all coins made from foreign silver, a practice that had gone on for more than 50 years.

The Mint was set up in Caracas at number 48 on the 4th Avenue North in the old Comercio Street, in a two-story building with its corner opposite the Water Regulation Authority. This corner was called The Mint – a name it still carries and which comes from the factory operated there by the French contractor La Monnaie. After 33 months of operation, the Government ordered the Mint’s operator to cease production of silver coins, a decision laid down in a specific 1887 law. The Government acquired the company’s property and took over as legal owner of the "National Mint". From 1890 onwards, Venezuelan coins were minted in foreign countries by various companies.

One century later, the BCV once again took up the idea of a Venezuelan Mint, with the aim of improving the country’s independence in money production.