Spanish peseta

The peseta was the former currency of Spain and, along with the French franc, of Andorra until 1999 (de facto, 2002). It was originally divided into 100 céntimos or, informally, 4 reales.

It is also the term used in Puerto Rico for a U.S. quarter.

The peseta (₧) was introduced in the second half of the 19th Century when Spain was preparing to join the Latin Monetary Union. Spain joined in 1868, the same year when the first peseta was minted. The peseta replaced the escudo as the chief monetary unit, at a rate of 2½ pesetas = 1 escudo. The peseta was equal to 4.5 grams of silver or 0.290322 grams of gold, the standard used by all the currencies of the Latin Monetary Union (including the French franc and Italian lira). Unfortunately for the tracking of change against the standard, due to the political turbulences of the early 20th century the monetary union faded away in the 1920s, though was not till 1927 that the union came to an end officially.

Coins

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Peseta
1 peseta 1998

Until 19th June 2001, the following coins were minted by the Spanish Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre

Value	€ equiv.	Diameter	Weight	Composition
1 ₧	0.006 (0.01)	14 mm	0.55 g	Aluminium
5 ₧	0.03	17.5 mm	3 g	Aluminium bronze
10 ₧	0.06	18.5 mm	3 g	Cupronickel
25 ₧	0.15	19.5 mm	4.25 g	Aluminium bronze
50 ₧	0.30	20.5 mm	5.60 g	Cupronickel
100 ₧	0.60	24.5 mm	9.25 g	Aluminium bronze
200 ₧	1.20	25.5 mm	10.5 g	Cupronickel
500 ₧	3.01	28 mm	12 gr	Aluminium bronze

The 5 ₧ was referred colloquially as "duro".

Banknotes

The last banknotes series (1992) were:

Value	€ equiv.	Dimensions	Colour	Portrait
1000 ₧	6.01	130 x 65 mm	Green	Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro
2000 ₧	12.02	138 x 68 mm	Red	José Celestino Mutis
5000 ₧	30.05	146 x 71 mm	Brown	Christopher Columbus
10,000 ₧	60.10	154 x 74 mm	Gray	Juan Carlos I of Spain and Jorge Juan de Ulloa

The 1000 ₧ note was coloquially known as "talego".

Other Banknotes series (1982-1987) were also legal tender:

Value	€ equiv.	Dimensions	Colour	Portrait
200 ₧	1.20	120 x 65 mm	Orange	Leopoldo Alas
500 ₧	3.01	129 x 70 mm	Dark blue	Rosalía de Castro
1000 ₧	6.01	138 x 75 mm	Green	Benito Pérez Galdós
2000 ₧	12.02	147 x 80 mm	Red	Juan Ramón Jiménez
5000 ₧'''	30.05	156 x 85 mm	Brown	Juan Carlos I of Spain
10,000 ₧	60.10	165 x 85 mm	Gray	Juan Carlos I of Spain and Felipe, Prince of Asturias

200 ₧ and 500 ₧ were very rare.

There were also plans for a 20,000 ₧ note. With the accession of Spain to the euro, they were scrapped.

"Andorran" peseta

The Andorran peseta (ADP) was a 1:1 peg to the Spanish peseta. As Andorra used coins and banknotes from Spain, there was no separate Andorran peseta, and they were convertible into normal pesetas.

After the euro

The peseta was replaced by the euro (€) in 1999 on currency exchange boards. Euro coins and notes were introduced in January 2002, and in March 1, 2002, the peseta lost its legal tender status in Spain (also in Andorra). The exchange rate was 1 EUR = 166.386 ESP

The name is believed to have been derived from the Catalan word "peceta", meaning "little piece" (diminutive of "peça").

Peseta notes and coins that were legal tender on December 31, 2001, remain exchangeable indefinitely at any branch of the central bank.

Trivia

In the game Resident Evil 4, the main character is in europe and the currency is peseta, the game is based in 2004, even though the peseta had become obsolete by then.

External links

Currencies of Spain | History of Spain | Currencies replaced by the Euro | Andorra | Currencies of Andorra