Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. It is divided into 100 centavos. The symbol used for the peso is "$", while centavos are represented by "ÃÂâ".ISO 4217: MXN (prior to 1993: MXP)
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2 Current system 3 External link |
The peso was originally based on imperial Spain's silver dollars, the renowned pieces of eight of pirate literature and Hollywood swashbucklers.
On 1 January 1993 Mexico adopted a new currency, the nuevo peso ("new peso", or MXN). The new peso was equal to 1000 of the obsolete MXP pesos. The change was necessitated by the violent and massive devaluations the currency had suffered over the previous quarter century.
On 1 January 1996 the modifier nuevo was dropped from the name and new coins and banknotes – identical in every respect to the 1993 issue, with the exception of the now absent word "nuevo" – were put into circulation. The ISO 4217 code, however, remained unchanged as MXN.
The coins currently in circulation have face values of 5ÃÂâ, 10ÃÂâ, 20ÃÂâ, 50ÃÂâ, $1, $2, $5, and $10. Coins worth $20 and $50 also exist and are legal tender, but they were not included in the 1996 issue and they are both extremely rare and largely disliked by users. All the coins incorporate design elements from the Aztec Calendar.
History
Current system
Coins
Banknotes are issued in denominations of $20, $50, $100, $200, and $500; a $10 note existed during the early days of the changeover but has since been withdrawn.
These banknotes depict the following figures from Mexican history:
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