Dominican peso
Encyclopedia : D : DO : DOM : Dominican peso
The peso oro is the base currency of the Dominican Republic. Its symbol is "$", with "RD$" used when distinction from other pesos (or dollars) is required; its ISO 4217 code is "DOP". Each peso is divided into 100 centavos ("cents"), for which the ¢ symbol is used. It is the only currency with legal tender for all monetary transactions , whether public or private, in the Dominican Republic.
The first Dominican peso was introduced in 1844. It replaced the Haitian gourde at par and was divided into 8 reales. The Dominican Republic decimalized in 1877, subdividing the peso into 100 centavos. A second currency, the franco, was issued between 1891 and 1897 but did not replace the peso. However, in 1905, the peso was replaced by United States currency, at a rate of five pesos to the dollar. The peso oro was introduced in 1947 at par with the US dollar, although the dollar continued to be used alongside the peso oro until 1947.
The coins currently in circulation have face values of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and $25 (even though all of these coins are still of legal tender, only the 50¢, $1, $5, $10 and $25 are used due to the impracticality of the smaller denominations). Banknotes currently in circulation have face values of $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000 and $2000; limited-editions of the $500 and $2000 bills were issued for the 1992 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas and year 2000 millennial celebrations, respectively, but as of 2005 not many of these remain in circulation.
Relation with the U.S. dollar
The United States dollar is used as a reserve currency by the Dominican Central Bank. Also, when convened by both parties, both U.S. dollars and the Euro can be used in private transactions (this applies mostly in tourism-related activities). This was most true during the drastic inflational period of 2003-2004, locally referred as El Huracán Mejía (The Hurricane Mejía). The name came from the current President at the time, Hipólito Mejía.
Historical exchange rates
Historically, since the first monetary emission in 1948, the peso was worth about the same as a [United States Dollar|United States Dollar (U.S. dollar)].
During the 1980’s and 1990’s the exchange rate for U.S. dollar vs Dominican peso was as follows:
- 1984 $US 1 to RD$ 1.25
- 1993 $US 1 to RD$ 14.00
- 1998 $US 1 to RD$ 16.00
- 2002 $US 1 to RD$ 20.00
- 2006 $US 1 to RD$ 32.00
Since 2004 the peso has reached a more manageable rate of 29–34 pesos to 1 U.S. dollar. As of December 2005, there were some 39 pesos to the euro, or around 33 to the U.S. dollar.
External links
- () [Banco Central de la República Dominicana]
- *[General information on the Dominican Peso]
- *[Banknotes]
- *[Coins]
- [Dominican Republic Monetary and Exchange-Rate Policies]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.