There are 39 currencies currently in official use in the Americas. All de jure present currencies in the Americas are listed here, including currencies from countries which are not sovereign states or dependencies.
A commonly used currency in the Americas is the United States dollar. [1] It is the world's largest reserve currency, [2] the resulting economic value of which benefits the U.S. at over $100 billion annually. [3] However, its position as a reserve currency damages American exporters because this increases the value of the United States dollar. [4] [5] The United States dollar is also "standard" in international commodity markets. [1] In the phenomenon known as 'dollarization', the U.S. dollar has been adopted as the official currency of several other countries. [6] However, semi-dollarization also exists in a few other countries where the U.S. dollar is recognised as legal tender alongside another currency, and unofficial dollarization exists in many areas where the U.S. dollar is widely used and accepted-although it is not recognised as legal tender. [6] Ecuador uses the United States dollar [7] (the French overseas department French Guiana uses the euro, the currency of France).
The Brazilian real is considered a strong South American currency; under presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, the real almost tripled in value, resulting in a vast change in economics, with many people who were middle class benefiting greatly. [8] The minimum wage was raised, and Brazil's position as a leading exporter of raw materials, including soya beans and iron ore was underlined, but they are responsible for Brazil's improved economy, which damaged the "competitiveness of manufacturing", [8] reducing the amount of exports. [9]
The Chilean currency, the Chilean peso, is also strong. [10] However, this again means that manufacturing struggles, as cheaper imports are pricing them out of business. [10] In January 2011, after Chile announced that in 2011 the country planned to buy foreign reserves of $12 billion, the peso experienced an immediate fall in value. [10] The country's main export is copper to China and India. [10] The currency strength has resulted in over-high wages, and high inflation. [10]
The East Caribbean dollar is the most used currency by the number of countries in the Caribbean utilizing it. The East Caribbean dollar is pegged to the United States dollar, and has been for over 35 years since 1976, [11] having previously been pegged to the pound sterling. [11] In 1965, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority was established (coming after the British Caribbean Currency Board), to distribute currency, but The Bahamas withdrew from the organisation to create its own bank. [12] The East Caribbean dollar is used in all seven member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Anguilla (a British overseas territory); the only OECS member using a different currency is the British Virgin Islands, [13] a British overseas territory where the U.S. dollar is the official currency. [14] [15] Cuba and Panama both use two currencies. Cuba is attempting to gradually phase out the Cuban convertible peso, unifying the two in the Cuban peso. [16] Although there is no confirmed timescale for the reform, whilst quoting Cuban economists, Reuters gave an estimation of 18 months (from October 2013). [16] Panama uses the United States dollar informally, [17] but additionally uses the Panamanian balboa as legal tender. [18]
The Eastern Caribbean dollar is the currency of all seven full members and one associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The successor to the British West Indies dollar, it has existed since 1965, and it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $ or, alternatively, EC$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The EC$ is subdivided into 100 cents. It has been pegged to the United States dollar since 7 July 1976, at the exchange rate of US$1 = EC$2.70.
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used for distinction from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents (¢).
The Mexican peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$".
The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. Its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars superimposed prefixing the amount, $ or ; the single-bar symbol, available in most modern text systems, is almost always used. Both of these symbols are used by many currencies, most notably the United States dollar, and may be ambiguous without clarification, such as CLP$ or US$. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It was divided into 100 centavos until 31 May 1996, when the subdivision was formally eliminated. In February 2023, the exchange rate was around CLP$800 to US$1.
The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Filipino name piso, is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 sentimo, also called centavos.
The cent is a monetary unit of many national currencies that equals 1⁄100 of the basic monetary unit.
The peso is the currency of Argentina since 1992, identified within Argentina by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, but due to rapid inflation, coins with a face value below one peso are now rarely used. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS. It replaced the austral at a rate of 10,000 australes to one peso.
The córdoba is the currency of Nicaragua. It is divided into 100 centavos.
The Cuban peso also known as moneda nacional, is the official currency of Cuba.
The convertible peso was one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the Cuban peso. It had been in limited use since 1994, when its value was pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar.
Peso dominicano has been the name of the currency of the Dominican Republic since 2010. Its symbol is "$", with "RD$" used when distinction from other pesos is required; its ISO 4217 code is "DOP". Each peso is divided into 100 centavos ("cents"), for which the ¢ symbol is used. With exception of the United States dollar, it is the only currency that is legal tender in the Dominican Republic for all monetary transactions, whether public or private.
Uruguayan peso has been a name of the Uruguayan currency since Uruguay's settlement by Europeans. The present currency, the peso uruguayo was adopted in 1993 and is subdivided into 100 centésimos, although centésimos are not currently in use.
The dollar has been the currency of Barbados since 1935. Globally its currency has the ISO 4217 code BBD, however, unofficially in Barbados the International vehicle registration code BDS is also commonly used, a currency code that is otherwise reserved for Bangladesh outside Barbados. As such the present Barbados dollar has the official ISO 4217 code of BB which matches the [dot] .bb Cc-TLD domain names classification for Barbados under ISO 3166, plus D for dollar in the foreign exchange market. The Barbadian dollar is considered as a currency which can be divided into 100 cents, though the 1 cent coin is in the process of being phased out.
$1 primarily refers banknotes, bills or coins, including:
The currencies of Puerto Rico closely follow the historic development of Puerto Rico. As a Province of Spain and a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico was granted the use of both foreign and provincial currencies. Following the Spanish colonization in 1502, Puerto Rico became an important port, with its own supply of gold. However, as the mineral reserves ran empty within the century, the archipelago's economy suffered. The Spanish Crown issued the Situado Mexicano, which meant that a semi-regular shipment of gold from the Viceroyalty of New Spain would be sent to the island, as a way to provide economic support. Between 1636 and 1637, Philip IV of Spain imposed a tax which had to be paid using a revenue stamp. Inspired by this, Puerto Rico began producing banknotes in 1766, becoming the first Overseas Province to print 8-real banknotes in the Spanish Empire and which in the Spanish government's approval of subsequent issues.
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color.
The history of Philippine money covers currency in use before the Hispanic era with gold Piloncitos and other commodities in circulation, as well as the adoption of the peso during the Hispanic era and afterwards.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)