Ecuadorian centavo coins

Cincuenta (50) centavos, Presidente Eloy Alfaro

Veinticinco (25) centavos, Patriot and poet Jose Joaquin de Olmedo

Diez (10) centavos, Notable Writer and Lawyer, and father of Ecuadorian Journalism Eugenio Espejo

Cinco (5) centavos, Author and Essayist Juan Montalvo

Un (1) centavo, map of the Americas and the legend "Ecuador, Luz de América"

Ecuadorian centavo coins were introduced in 2000 when Ecuador converted its currency from the sucre to the U.S. dollar. The coins are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavos and are identical in size and value to their U.S. cent counterparts (although the U.S. 50-cent piece is rarely used.) They circulate within Ecuador alongside coins and banknotes from the USA. Unlike in the United States, the United States $1 coin is commonly found in circulation. Ecuador does not issue any banknotes, relying on U.S. issues.

Ecuadorian centavos all bear the numeric value along with the value spelled out in Spanish, and the legend of the Banco Central del Ecuador; the reverse is printed with the portrait and name of a notable Ecuadorian, the legend "República del Ecuador" and the country's Coat of Arms. The exception is the one-cent coin, which rather than bearing a portrait, is printed with a map of the Americas and bears the legend "Ecuador, Luz de América" ("Ecuador, Light of America"). Coins bear the date Año 20xx, beginning in 2000; the largest proportion of coins in circulation are from the 2000 minting. With the exception of the one-cent coin, the coins are silver-colored; the "un centavo" coin is generally brass in color although a few were struck in copper color (unlike most other pennies, whose similar coins are of copper). The coins are minted by the Royal Canadian Mint and the Casa de Moneda de Mexico.