South and Central America

[andyg]

OK, here's a brief tour of the currencies of South America.

Here's a map to get us started,

[andyg]

Argentina - Some older coins....

1) 1 Decimo 1823, from the State of Buenos Ayres, after the Spanish were repelled Argentina became a confederation of states, lacking in a central government, so each state had it's own coins.
2) 10 Centimos 1883.  Argentina was unified in 1862, however a new coinage was not introduced until 1881
3) 25 Pesos 1968, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the death of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento.  The peso having steadily declined in value from the mid 1950's.
4) 100 Pesos 1979, centennial of the conquest of Patagonia commemorative.  In 1970 a new coinage was issued 100 old Pesos = 1 New Peso, but by 1979 the Peso was again worthless due to inflation.
5) 10 Pesos 1985, Building at Tucumen, a New Peso was introduced in 1983, the Peso Argentino.  This time 10,000 Peso Argentinos = 1 Old Peso.
6) 1000 Australes 1991, Another new coinage in 1985, this time 1000 Old Peso Argentinos = 1 New Australe.  This too was replaced, by the current coinage in 1992, at a rate of 10,000 Old Australes = 1 New Peso.

So one current Peso = 10,000,000,000,000 original pesos.
(seems my maths is right, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_peso )

[andyg]

Argentina - a modern type set.

1) 1 Centavo 1992, no longer used.
2) 5 Centavos 1993, radient sunface
3) 10 Centavos 1992, Argentine Coat of arms
4) 25 Centavos 1994, Towered building (where is the building?)
5) 50 Centavos 1994, Tucumen province capital building.
6) 1 Peso 1995, First Argentine coin

There were some commemoratives struck between 1996 and 2001 for circulation, but non since.
2 Peso coins I think are non-circulating.

[andyg]

Bolivia,

Some older coins,

1) ¼ Sol, 1852 of the pre-decimal coinage, first introduced by the Spanish, but renamed Sol from Real.
2) 5 Centavos 1883, struck in Paris, this issue was withdrawn from circulation due to confusion with silver 10 Centavos, it was then holed officially before it was re-issued.
3) 10 Centavos 1942, one of the few South American coins struck in Zinc.
4) 50 Centavos 1909, with the 'H' mintmark, of Ralph Heaton (Birmingham UK)
5) 10 Bolivars 1951, with a portrait of Simon Bolivar.
6) 25 Centavos 1972, of the new coinage the Peso Bolivano, introduced at a rate of 1 Peso Bolivano = 1000 Old Bolivanos.  Coins continued to be issued until 1980 when they ceased to keep up with inflation.
By 1986 there were 2.2 million Peso Bolivanos to the US$.

[andyg]

Bolivia, a modern type set.

In 1987 a new currency was introduced at a rate of 1,000,000 Old Peso Bolivanos to 1 New Bolivano.
So 1 New Bolivano = 1,000,000,000 original Bolivanos.

1) 2 Centavos 1987, now withdrawn.
2) 5 Centavos 1987, now withdrawn.
3) 10 Centavos 2001
4) 20 Centavos 1991
5) 50 Centavos 1997
6) 1 Bolivano 1991
7) 2 Bolivanos 1997
8 ) 5 Bolivanos 2001

[andyg]

Brazil, some older coins.

1) 500 Reis 1932, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of colonisation.
2) 2000 Reis 1939, with a portrait of Floriano Peixoto
3) 50 Centavos 1956, of the first decimal coinage introduced in 1942 100 Centavos = Cruzeiro
4) 500 Cruzeiros 1986, a second decimal coinage was introduced in 1967, inflation having rendered the old Cruzeiro worthless.  This time 100 Centavos = 1 Cruzeiro Novo, 1000 Old Cruzeiros = 1 Cruzeiro Novo.
5) 10 Cruzados 1988, yet another new coinage was introduced in 1986.  This time 100 Centavos = 1 Cruzado, 1000 Cruzeiro Novos = 1 New Cruzado.
6) 5000 Cruzeiros Reais 1994, Another decade, another coinage, this time 1000 old Cruzados = 1 Nova Cruzado (later changed to Cruzeiro), Cruzeiros Reais was introduced in 1993, so 5000 Cruzeiros Reais = 50,000 Cruzeiros.

[andyg]

Brazil, a modern type set.

The latest coinage was introduced in 1994 at an odd rate of 2750 old Cruzeiros Reais = 1 New Real.
So 2,750,000,000,000,000 Original Cruzeiros = 1 New Real.

1) 1 Centavo 1998, Pedro Álvares Cabral now no longer issued, but still current.
2) 5 Centavos 1998. Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes
3) 10 Centavos 1998 Pedro I
4) 25 Centavos 1998 Deodoro da Fonseca
5) 50 Centavos 2003 José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, the Baron of Rio Branco
6) 1 Real 1999, Effigy of the Republic.

Some commemorative 1 Real's have been issued in recent years,
50th anniversary of the declaration of Human rights (1998), 100 years since the birth of Juscelino Kubitschek (2002) and 40th anniversary of the central bank (2005)

[andyg]

Chile, some older coins.

1) 1 Centavo 1835 (1/100 of a Peso)
2) 2 Reales 1844, 8 Reales = 1 Peso - the reales denominations were removed in 1851. 2 Reales became 25 Centavos.
3) 20 Centavos 1916.
4) 20 Centavos 1942
5) 50 Pesos 1974.  Inflation caused the old Peso to decline in value, in 1960 a new coinage was introduced of 100 Centesimos = 1 Escudo, 1000 old Pesos = 1 New Escudo.
6) 10 Centavos 1976, another new currency was introduced in 1976, this time 100 centavos = 1  Peso, 1000 old Escudos = 1 new Peso.

[andyg]

Chile, a modern type set.

1) 1 Peso 1995
2) 5 Pesos 1995
3) 10 Pesos 1995
4) 50 Pesos 1998 - the 1 to 50 Pesos have a portrait of Bernardo O'Higgins
5) 100 Pesos 2006, with a portrait of a Mapuche woman.
6) 500 Pesos 2000, with a portrait of Raúl Silva Henríquez

[andyg]

Colombia, a few older coins.

1) 1¼ Centavos 1874
2) 2½ Centavos 1881
3) 1 Real 1852, equivalent to 10 Centavos, struck by the republic of 'Nueva Grenada'
4) 5 Pesos p/m 1909, or Peso paper money, printing press inflation caused the paper money to be worth than the silver coin, so this coin was equivalent to 5 Pesos in the paper standard.
5) 50 Centavos 1963, with a portrait of Simon Bolivar
6) 1000 Escudos 1997, one of the few occasions where a coin has been replaced by a banknote, due to high levels of counterfeiting, two other examples I can think of are Malaysia and Jordan.

[andyg]

Colombia, a modern type set.

1) 20 Pesos 2004, portrait of Simon Bolivar
2) 50 Pesos 1991
3) 100 Pesos 1994
4) 200 Pesos 1994, Quimbaya civilization figurine
5) 500 Pesos 1993, El arbol de Guacari (Guacari's tree)

[andyg]

Ecuador, some older coins

1) ½ Decimo (5 Centavos) 1886, with the mintmark 'HEATON BIRMINGHAM' in full.
2) 10 Centavos 1928, with a portrait of Simon Bolivar
3) 2 Decimos (20 Centavos) 1894, a portrait of Antonio José de Sucre, struck in Lima, Peru.
4) 20 Centavos 1944, in Brass, struck in Denver USA
5) 2 Sucres 1973, Schön reports that these were not released to circulation and that all but 1035 were melted.
6) 1000 Sucres, one of Ecuador's final coins before adoption of the US$ commemorating 70 years of the central bank with a portrait of Eugenio Espejo

[andyg]

Ecuador, a modern type set,

Introduced in 2000 when Ecuador adopted the US$, these correspond to the standard US types

1) 1 Centavo 2003, Map
2) 5 Centavos 2000, Juan Montalvo
3) 10 Centavos 2000, Eugenio Espejo
4) 25 Centavos 2000, José Joaquín de Olmedo
5) 50 Centavos 2000, José Eloy Alfaro Delgado

Ecuador is one of the few places where the Sacagawea (US dollar coin) actually circulates.
No coins have been issued since 2000 for 5c to 50c and 2003 for 1c, so it remains to be seen if these will be the last.

[andyg]

Falklands Isles...

A modern type set.
The first coinage for the islands was issued in 1974 and follows the British standard.
1) ½ Penny 1974, Atlantic Salmon, no longer valid.
2) 1 Penny 2004, Gentee Penguins
3) 2 Pence 2004, Upland Goose
4) 5 Pence 2004, Blackbrowned Albatross (reduced size from 1998)
5) 10 Pence 2004, Ursine Seal (reduced size from 1998)
6) 20 Pence 2004, Romney marsh Sheep
7) 50 Pence 2004, Falkland Isles Fox
8 ) 1 Pound 2004, Coat of Arms
9) 2 Pounds 2004, Map.

William Gardner designed the ½p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, and 50p (as well as the UK 20p). He retired before he could design the Falklands 20p, so Robert Elderton designed that.

A commemorative 50p was issued in 2007 (see below) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of liberation, struck at the Pobjoy mint, it features the PM mintmark and die letters more usually associated with coins of the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

[andyg]

French Guiana

Very few coins have ever been struck for French Guiana, as traditionally they used coins of the French standard, moving to the Euro in 2001.

1) 2 Sous, colony of Cayenne, struck in brass by the English in an attempt to undermine the currency.
2) 2 Sous, this time in Bronze.  I'm unsure if this is the genuine article! as contemporary forgeries far outnumber the real coins.