Mexican Peso (MXN) Profile

Mexican peso users

The Mexican peso is the currency of Mexico (officially the United Mexican States), a federal constitutional republic in North America. It shares borders with the United States, Guatemala, Belize, and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1810 and was officially recognized in 1821.

Mexican peso history

The Mexican peso was introduced in 1821 when Mexico gained its independence, continuing the Spanish monetary system, with the peso of 8 reales as the largest silver coin. It was essentially descended from the Spanish dollar, a silver coin with approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales. The Spanish dollars were widely used in the Americas, Southeast Asia, China coast, and Japan from the height of the Spanish Empire until the early 19th century. Both the U.S. dollar and the Mexican peso have a common origin in the Spanish dollar and continue to use the "$" symbol as their currency symbol.

The eight-real coin, known as the Spanish dollar or the piece of eight, was a widely circulated silver coin with approximately 38 mm diameter and worth eight reales. It was commonly known as a thaler (dollar) in Europe. The coin was minted in various Spanish Empire territories and colonies, with Mexico and Peru being the most prolific mints.

Over time, the weight and fineness of the eight-real coin changed due to various economic factors. After gaining its independence in 1821, Mexico continued the Spanish monetary system and restored the 1772 standard of 24.441 g fine silver (24.064 g, 0.9028 fineness) for the peso. Mexico minted the last eight-real peso in 1897 and the last 100-peso silver coins in 1977. Currently, only the $20, $50, $100 peso coins still contain any silver and are circulating in the world.

Mexican peso coins and banknotes

The Mexican peso is subdivided into 100 centavos.

The first issue coins were denominated in centavos, worth one hundredth of the peso. The "one peso" coins were later issued in 1866. Currently, coins in circulation are in denominations of 50 centavos, 1, 2, 5, 10 pesos. The smaller and larger denominations of 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, $20, $50, $100 are rarely used. Frequently used banknotes are in denominations of $20, $50, $100, $200, $500.

The Mexican peso may be accepted in some supermarkets at the border areas of the United States.

Mexican peso and the currency of peso

The term "peso" originally referred to the Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight or the eight-real coin, which was issued by Spain and circulated within the Spanish Empire. As a result, "peso" has been used as a monetary unit by many countries that were former Spanish colonies.