Latin America Challenge 7
Many people know that the currency of Mexico is the Mexican peso. But have you ever heard of the guaraní, the official currency of Paraguay? About 4000 guaranís are worth one US dollar or 0.7 Euro.
Today's challenge: List the name of a Latin American country and its official currency. Include an interesting fact about it or a picture if you have one.
Use whatever resources you have available to answer this challenge. Please post one currency per response, but feel free to enter as many posts as you like. Have fun!
14 Answers
Here in Guatemala we use Quetzales, which is at a rate of about Q7.5 to US $1..
The Quetzal is also the official bird of Guatemala.
95
95
Belize -- Here the official currency is the "dollar," formerly known as British Honduras. This currency is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively BZ$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents. The official value is pegged at 2 BZ$ = US $1.
The currency of Chile is Chilean peso (C L P)
Today 1 C L P = 0.002148 U S D (source: Google)
The currency of Bolivia is boliviano (B O B)
Today 1 B O B = 0.142653 U S D (source: Google)
The first boliviano was introduced in 1864. It was equivalent to eight soles or half a scudo in the former currency. Initially, it was subdivided into 100 centécimos but this was altered to centavos in 1870. The name bolivar was used for an amount of ten Bolivianos.
The boliviano was initially pegged at a rate of 1 boliviano = 5 French francs. On December 31, 1908, the currency was put on a new gold standard, with 12½ bolivianos = 1 British pound. A series of devaluations relative to the pound followed
The 5 Boliviano note is no longer used - and "Peso" is still used
(said Sir Ian - special thanks to him)
This is the "Peso", the actual currency in Argentina. There is no paper bill for this value.
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This is 1 "Peso Moneda Nacional". It was the currency used until 1969.
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As today, and after all the changes and devaluations along the last 42 years, to get 1 Peso, we would need:
10,000,000,000,000
Pesos Moneda Nacional.
The currency of Peru is Peruvian nuevo sol (P E N)
Today 1 P E N = 0.364631 U S D (source: Google)
The currency of Colombia is Colombian peso (C O P)
Today 1 C O P = 0.000559 U S D (source: Google)
Panama has two official currencies: Panamanian balboa (P A B) and US dollar (U S D)
1 P A B = 1 U S D
(Balboa is derived from the name of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador/explorer)
The currency of Venezuela is Venezuelan bolivar fuerte (V E F) (it has replaced Venezuelan bolivar since 2008).
Today 1 V E F = 0.000466 U S D (source: Google)
Bolivar is originally the name of a hero in the history of Venezuela, Gran Colombia (a former state) and South America.
Many place names have been named after his name, for example, the Venezuelan state of Bolivar (the largest state in Venezuela by area, where the Salto Angel is situated), Ciudad de Bolivar (capital of this state), Bolivar Province (Peru), Bolivar Province (Ecuador), Bolivar department (Colombia), etc
Sucre was the currency of Ecuador but nowadays, the currency is US dollar.
(Sucre is the name of hero in the history of South America. He was a friend of Simon Bolivar. The constitutional capital of Bolivia, the Colombian department of Sucre, and the Venezuelan state of Sucre are also named after his name)
However, Ecuadorian centavo coins are still issued.
The currency of Uruguay is Uruguayan Peso (UYU)
According to Google, today 1 UYU = 0.053476 USD
The currency of Costa Rica is the Colón, named after Cristóban Colón (Christopher Columbus).
Exchange rates:
1 Euro = 711 CRC
1 US$ = 503 CRC
The unit of currency in Brazil is the Brazilian real, which is currently worth about $0.63 US.
Haiti: the Haitian Gourde
1000 Gourdes = $25.21 US
