Chilean peso

Chilean peso
peso chileno (Spanish)
ISO 4217 code	CLP
Central bank	Banco Central de Chile
Website	www.bcentral.cl
User(s)	Chile
Inflation	1.5%
Source	2009 (INE)
Subunit
1/100	centavos
Symbol	$(\mathrm{S}\!\!\!\Vert )$ (or $, due to its availability in the western keyboard).
Coins	1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 pesos
Banknotes	1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000 pesos
Mint	Casa de Moneda
Website	www.cmoneda.cl

The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. The symbol used locally for it is $. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, although no centavo denominated coins remain in circulation. The average exchange rate of the Chilean peso to the U.S dollar was 1 U.S. dollar to 472.34 Chilean pesos in February 2013.

First peso, 1817–1960

The first Chilean peso was introduced in 1817, at a value of 8 Spanish colonial reales. Until 1851, the peso was subdivided into 8 reales, with the escudo worth 2 pesos. In 1835, copper coins denominated in centavos were introduced but it was not until 1851 that the real and escudo denominations ceased to be issued and further issues in centavos and décimos (worth 10 centavos) commenced. Also in 1851, the peso was set equal 5 French francs on the silver standard, 22.5 grams pure silver. However, gold coins were issued to a different standard to that of France, with 1 peso = 1.37 grams gold (5 francs equalled 1.45 grams gold). In 1885, a gold standard was adopted, pegging the peso to the British pound at a rate of 13⅓ pesos = 1 pound (1 peso = 1 shilling 6 pence). This was reduced in 1926 to 40 pesos = 1 pound (1 peso = 6 pence). From 1925, coins and banknotes were issued denominated in cóndores, worth 10 pesos. The gold standard was suspended in 1932 and the peso's value fell further. The escudo replaced the peso on 1 January 1960 at a rate 1 escudo = 1000 pesos.

Coins

Between 1817 and 1851, silver coins were issued in denominations of ¼, ½, 1 and 2 reales and 1 peso (also denominated 8 reales), with gold coins for 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. In 1835, copper ½ and 1 centavo coins were issued. A full decimal coinage was introduced between 1851 and 1853, consisting of copper ½ and 1 centavo, silver ½ and 1 décimo, 20 and 50 centavos, and 1 peso, and gold 5 and 10 pesos. In 1860, gold 1 peso coins were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel ½, 1 and 2 centavos between 1870 and 1871. Copper coins for these denominations were reintroduced between 1878 and 1883, with copper 2½ centavos added in 1886. A new gold coinage was introduced in 1895, reflecting the lower gold standard, with coins for 2, 5, 10 and 20 pesos. In 1896, the ½ and 1 décimo were replaced by 5 and 10 centavo coins.

In 1907, a short-lived, silver 40 centavo coin was introduced following cessation of production of the 50 centavo coin. In 1919, the last of the copper coins (1 and 2 centavos) were issued. The following year, cupro-nickel replaced silver in the 5, 10 and 20 centavo coins. A final gold coinage was introduced in 1926, in denominations of 20, 50 and 100 pesos. In 1927, silver 2 and 5 peso coins were issued. Cupro-nickel 1 peso coins were introduced in 1933, replacing the last of the silver coins. In 1942, copper 20 and 50 centavos and 1 peso coins were introduced. The last coins of the first peso were issued between 1954 and 1959. These were aluminium 1, 5 and 10 pesos.

Banknotes

The first Chilean paper money was issued between 1840 and 1844 by the treasury of the Province of Valdivia, in denominations of 4 and 8 reales. In the 1870s, a number of private banks began issuing paper money, including the Banco Agrícola, the Banco de la Alianza, the Banco de Concepción, the Banco Consolidado de Chile, the Banco de A. Edwards y Cía., the Banco de Escobar, Ossa y Cía., the Banco Mobiliario, the Banco Nacional de Chile, the Banco del Pobre, the Banco Sud Americano, the Banco del Sur, the Banco de la Unión and the Banco de Valparaíso. Others followed in the 1880s and 1890s. Denominations included 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 pesos. One bank, the Banco de A. Edwards y Cía., also issued notes denominated in pounds sterling (libra esterlina).

In 1881, the government issued paper money convertible into silver or gold, in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 pesos. 50 centavo notes were added in 1891 and 500 pesos in 1912. In 1898, provisional issues were made by the government, consisting of private bank notes overprinted with the words "Emisión Fiscal". This marked the end of the production of private paper money.

In 1925, the Banco Central de Chile began issuing notes. The first, in denominations of 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000 pesos, were overprints on government notes. In 1927, notes marked as "Billete Provisional" were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesos. Regular were introduced between 1931 and 1933, in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10,000 pesos. The 1 and 20 peso notes stopped production in 1943 and 1947, respectively. The remaining denominations continued production until 1959, with a 50,000 peso note added in 1958.

Second peso, 1975–present

Chilean notes currently in circulation.

Coins in circulation.

The current peso was introduced on 29 September 1975 by decree 1,123; replacing the escudo at a rate of 1 peso = 1000 escudos. It was subdivided into 100 centavos until 1984.

Coins

In 1975, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos and 1 peso. The 1, 5 and 10 centavo coins were very similar to the 10, 50 and 100 escudo coins they replaced. Since 1983, inflation has left the centavo coins obsolete. 5 and 10 peso coins were introduced in 1976, followed by 50 and 100 pesos in 1981 and 500 pesos in 2000. Coins currently in circulation are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 pesos; however, most retailers tend to round the prices to the nearest 10 pesos.

Right after the Military Government in Chile (1973–1990), the obverse designs of the 5 and 10 peso coins were changed. Those coins bore the image of a winged female figure wearing a classical robe. She was portrayed as if she had just broken a chain tying her two hands together, since from both of her wrists a piece of chain can be seen hanging. To her side, in small Roman numerals, the date of the coup d'état is marked, and underneath the word Libertad (Spanish for liberty) is written in capitals. After the return of democracy, a design with the portrait of Bernardo O'Higgins was used. In 2001 a newly redesigned 100 peso coin bearing the image of a Mapuche woman began to circulate.

In February 2010 it was discovered that on the 2008 series of the 50 peso coins the country name "CHILE" had been misspelled as "CHIIE". The national mint said that it did not plan to recall the coins. The coins, worth about 9 cents (US) at the time, subsequently became collectors' items.

Banknotes

In 1976, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 pesos with the reverses of the 5, 10 and 50 peso notes resembling those of the Eº 5000, 10,000 and 50,000 notes they replaced. Inflation has since led to the issue of much higher denominations. 500 peso notes were introduced in May 1977, followed by 1000 pesos in June 1978, 5000 pesos in June 1981, 10,000 pesos in June 1989, 2000 pesos in December 1997 and 20,000 pesos in December 1998. The 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 peso banknotes have been replaced by coins, leaving the 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 peso notes in circulation. Redesigned versions of the 2000, 5000, 10000, and 20000 were issued throughout 2009 and 2010. The popular and new 1000 pesos banknote has been issued on 11 May 2011.

The 2000 pesos note has been issued as a polymer banknote since September 2004, the 5000 pesos note switched to polymer in September 2009, and the 1000 also switched in May 2011. As of January 2012, only 10000 and 20000 pesos notes are the values still issued on cotton paper. All notes have the same 70mm height, while their length varies on 7mm steps according to their value: the shortest is the 1000 pesos note and the longest is the 20,000 pesos. This was the first time that a whole new family of banknotes were put into circulation not because of the effects of inflation. The new notes are substantially more difficult to falsify because of new security measures.

The design of the whole new family of banknotes was assigned to the Swedish company Crane AB, while its production was assigned to the Australian company Note Printing Australia Ltd and Crane AB.

In popular culture

Colloquial Chilean Spanish has informal names for some banknotes and coins. These include luca for a thousand pesos, quina for five hundred pesos (quinientos is Spanish for "five hundred"), and gamba for one hundred pesos. These names are old: for example gamba and luca applied to 100 and 1000 escudos before 1975.

Also, some banknotes are called informally by the name of the notable citizen printed on it. For example, the five thousand-peso banknote is sometimes called a gabriela (for Gabriela Mistral), the ten thousand-peso banknote arturo or arturito (for Arturo Prat, arturito meaning "little Arturo"); the one thousand-peso note is frequently referred as luca, meaning a thousand, therefore, the two thousand-peso note can be referred as two luca note, five thousand-peso note as five luca note, ten thousand as ten luca note, 1 million pesos as a guatón or palo, and so on.

Value of the peso against the US dollar

Current Chilean pesos per US dollar (1975–2011). Note: The chart shows averages for the year as well as monthly averages from 1984 onwards.

Average value of US$1

Date	Chilean pesos
April 2013	472.14
March 2013	472.48
February 2013	472.34
January 2013	472.67
December 2012	477.13
November 2012	480.57
October 2012	475.36
September 2012	474.97
August 2012	480.99
July 2012	491.93
June 2012	505.63
May 2012	497.09
12-month average	481.11

Between 1974 and 1979 the Chilean peso was allowed to float within a crawling band. From June 1979 to 1982 the peso was pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate. In June 1982 —during that year's economic crisis— the peso was devalued and different exchange rate regimes were used. In August 1984 the peso returned to a system of crawling bands, which were periodically adjusted to reflect differences between external and internal inflation.

Starting in September 1999 the Chilean peso was allowed to float freely against the US dollar for the first time. Chile's Central Bank —however— reserved the right to intervene, which it did on two occasions to counter "excessive depreciation". First, in August and September 2001, coinciding with Argentina's convertibility crisis and with the September 11 attacks in the United States, and in October 2002, during Brazil's presidential election.

Current CLP exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR
From OANDA.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR
From fxtop.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR

See also

• Economy of Chile
• Unidad de Fomento – inflation indexing of the Peso used in many contracts in Chile

References

• Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501. 
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9. 
• Pick, Albert (1990). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Specialized Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (6th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-149-8. 

External links

• Coins from Chile with pictures

First peso

Preceded by: Spanish colonial real Ratio: 8 reales = 1 peso

Currency of Chile 1817 – 31 December 1959

Succeeded by: Chilean escudo Ratio: 1 escudo = 1000 pesos

Second peso

Preceded by: Chilean escudo Ratio: 1 peso = 1000 escudos

Currency of Chile 1975 –

Succeeded by: Current