The Mexican peso is the official currency of Mexico. The peso was first introduced in 1863, replacing the old Spanish colonial real. The Mexican peso is subdivided into 100 centavos, represented by "¢". Mexican banknotes are issued by the Bank of Mexico in various denominations and feature vibrant colors and imagery representing Mexican culture and history. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$".
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight, is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver. It was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Some countries countermarked the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency.
The Colombian peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP. The official peso symbol is $, with Col$. also being used to distinguish it from other peso- and dollar-denominated currencies.
Philippine peso coins are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for circulation in the Philippines and are currently available in seven denominations. The Philippine peso has been in use since Spanish rule.
The rupia was the currency of Portuguese India sometime after 1668 until 1958. Prior to 1668, the currency unit was Xerafim. In 1666, the Portuguese administration struck a silver coin calling it double xerafin and this was declared equal to a rupia in circulation in India outside of Portuguese possessions. A xerafim was a convertible subunit of rupia, and it was unique to Portuguese colonies in India. One rupia equalled two xerafims.
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century. It underwent several changes in value relative to other units throughout its lifetime until it was replaced by the peseta in 1868. The most common denomination for the currency was the silver eight-realSpanish dollar or peso which was used throughout Europe, America and Asia during the height of the Spanish Empire.
The peso was the currency of Honduras between 1862 and 1931.
The real was the currency of Argentina until 1881. From 1822, it was subdivided into 10 décimos. The sol was also issued during this period and was equal to the real, whilst the peso was worth 8 reales and the escudo was worth 16 reales.
The silver real was the currency of the Spanish colonies in America and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at two billon reales or sixty-eight maravedíes. Gold escudos were also issued. The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight-real piece, known in English as the Spanish dollar, becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, the United States dollar. A reform in 1737 set the silver real at two and half billon reales or eighty-five maravedís. This coin, called the real de plata fuerte, became the new standard, issued as coins until the early 19th century. The gold escudo was worth 16 reales de plata fuerte.
The real was the currency of Colombia until 1837. No subdivisions of the real existed until after the real had ceased to be the primary unit of currency. However, 8 reales = 1 peso and 16 reales = 1 escudo.
The real was the currency of the Federal Republic of Central America from the passing of the coinage law of 19 March 1824 to the dissolution of the republic in 1838. Sixteen silver reales equaled one gold escudo, and a coin of eight reales was called a peso. The Central American Republic's real replaced the Spanish colonial real at par and continued to circulate and be issued after the constituent states left the Central American Republic. Federation coins were minted in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Honduras, while additional provisional issues were minted at various points in Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador. Both Guatemala and Costa Rica continued minting coins in the style of the republican real until the late 1840s; the currency was eventually replaced by the Costa Rican real, Salvadoran peso, Guatemalan peso, Honduran real and Nicaraguan peso.
The real was the currency of Peru until 1863. Sixteen silver reales equalled one gold escudo. The silver coin of 8 reales was also known as the peso.
The escudo was either of two distinct Spanish currency denominations.
The Philippine real was the currency of the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Era. Brought over in large quantities by the Manila galleons, eight silver reales made up a silver peso or a dollar. 16 silver real were equal to one gold escudo.
The real was the currency of Venezuela until 1843.
This article provides an outline of the currency of Spanish America from Spanish colonization in the 15th century until Spanish American independencies in the 19th. This great realm was divided into the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which came to include all Spanish territory north of Panama, the West Indies, Venezuela, and the Philippines, and the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included Panama and all Spanish territory in South America except Venezuela. The monetary system of Spanish America, originally identical to that of Spain, soon diverged and took on a distinctive character of its own, which it passed on to the independent nations that followed after.
The currency of Venezuela has been in circulation since the end of the 18th century. The present currency unit in Venezuela is the Venezuelan bolívar.
Currency in Colombia denotes the ingots, coins, and banknotes that have been used in Colombia since 1622. It was in that year, under a licence purchased from King Philip III of Spain, that Alonso Turrillo de Yebra established a mint at Santa Fe de Bogotá and a branch mint at Cartagena de las Indias, where gold cobs were produced as part of Colombia's first currency. Silver milled coins date from 1627. In 1831, Gran Colombia dissolved into Venezuela and New Granada. In 1836, in New Granada, new monetary laws were passed, to standardise the money produced in the country. From 1861 to 1862, due to financial instability, the United States of New Granada accepted British currency, the name of the country becoming the United States of Colombia in 1862. In 1880, Colombia pegged the peso to the gold standard due to the falling price of silver. In 1886, the paper peso was introduced. In 1931, Colombia abandoned the gold standard and switched to the current form of the peso.
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.
The Chilean peso was the legal tender of Chile from 1817 until 1960, when it was replaced by the escudo, a currency that was itself replaced in 1975 by a new peso.
