1 March 2026

On Friday 26 February after the crash of the military cargo plane carrying 18 tons of notes of 10; 20 and 50 bolivianos of the Series B, and the fact that a lot of people scooped many that were scattered on the ground, the Central Bank declared all of them worthless. In fact the Bank conducted an immediate incineration of those that were not stolen.

Yesterday they provided a list of the serial numbers of all the notes which were in the shipment, and declared them worthless, leaving the rest as legal tender.

However many local merchants are not accepting ANY of the notes of 10; 20 and 50 bolivianos of the Series B. Either they do not want to check them, or do not know how to do it. Therefore it is recommend not to sell them to your clients traveling to Bolivia. The valid ones should be treated as “outmoded.”

The Central Bank of Bolivia has open a link to the application

      https://www.bcb.gob.bo/?q=content/verificador-de-numero-de-serie

which allows the verification of the validity of the Series B banknotes of 10; 20 and 50 bolivianos.

This is how it works:

1. Select denomination,
2. Enter serial number, without letters or spaces,
3. Resolve the antirobot question and press “Verificar.”

The answer “NO OBSERVADO” means that the note is valid.

“OBSERVADO” means that the note is not valid.

Source: Banco Central de Bolivia.

Courtesy: Gabriel’s Numismatic Market, LLC; Fernando Tapia.