|
|
|
|
| |
The Mexican Peso Mexico's currency is called the Peso and comes in coin denominations of 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 peso, 2 pesos, 5 pesos, 10 pesos, and 20 pesos. The type of pesos that fold come in $20, $50, $100, $200, $500, and as of November 2004 a new white hot $1000 note. For all practicle purposes, you'll see a 5 cent coin and a $1000 peso banknote about as often as you'll see an iguana driving a taxi.
Peso means "weight" in English. It's not hard to see that the peso got its name from the weight of the metal that made up the coin. The Mexican Peso was inspired by the colonial Spanish gold bullion, or piece of eight, that were the obsession of the pirates of the day.
Mexico uses the "$" to proceed the peso, same as in the U.S (though Canada uses C$). This can lead to some confusion over price, particularly becuase in Acapulco sometimes prices are quotes in U.S. dollars. I once saw a thin book of poems by Pablo Neruda in the Fuerte de San Diego bookstore listed at $20.00. Was this book 20 pesos (two USDs) or 20 dollars? Turns out it was 20 pesos and I'm today its proud owner.
The current code for the Mexican Peso is MXN.
A Real Acapulco Tip: Keep a lot of small change handy. The 20 and 50 pesos notes are indispensable as it seems that it can even be difficult at times for people to deal with a 200 peso note much less a 500 - even in sizable restaurants. Half the time, when I pull out a 500, I get a look like, "my dear freind, you ask the impossible."
It's also good to keep a lot of 1, 2, and 5 peso coins in your pocket as one must constantly be on the ready to tip and the clock never seems to tick more slowly than when you have to wait for someone to change a big bill so you can pay out a 5 peso tip.
Another tip is to be aware that the 500 peso note and the 50 peso note are both a red color and can be confused. In fact, I once almost got into a fight a gas station attendant becuase he tired to pull the switch on me and I caught him. I handed him a 500 and, with lightening speed, he replaced it in his hand with a 50 and tried to insist that what I had handed him was a 50. Didn't work for two reasons, one I know this trick and two I had just looked at my cash and knew what I handed him. He tried for about a minute, however when he saw that I was about to step out of the car, he quickly produced my change and wished me a nice day.
The Mexican Peso has been remarkably stable for the last decade. With NAFTA and its ever tightening relationship with the US economy and the US dollar, there haven't been the wild fluctuations of the past. In 1998, the peso hovered around 7 to the U.S. dollar. In 2003, it was about 10 to the dollar, and today it's about 11 to the dollar. Things weren't always so stable.
In 1993, Mexico adopted a new currency called the nuevo peso which was the equivilant of 1000 of the obsolete old pesos which had lost their value in a series of devalutations and currency crashes. In 1996, Mexico droped the "new" and just started refering to them as pesos. The currency collapse of 1993 was no small matter as it was hypothesized it had the potential to spread to other countires (which was termed the Tequilla effect) and destabilize the entire global economy. Though controversial at the time, the eventual $20 billion U.S. loan to Mexico proved effective.
Exchanging money in Acapulco is a pretty simple process. You can do it at any bank, but the best rates are typically found in the little exchange houses in the Golden Zone. You can't miss them with their flags blazing and the word "Currency Exchange" plasterd over the edifice. In Spanish, they're known as Casas de Cabmio. The way they work is that they buy pesos from you at a lower rate than they sell them to you and they pocket the difference, but they are convineient and generally offer better rates of exchange that you'll get at the ATM.
In Spanish the exchange rate is called the tipo de cambio.
Divisas is the word used for foreign currency or its exchange.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| What's happening
in Acapulco? |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
