Etymology
The name is believed to have been derived from the Catalan word "peceta", meaning "little piece" (i.e., the diminutive of "pea", "-eta" being the usual feminine diminutive) . However, it is also possible that the name is the diminutive of "peso", an already-existing currency whose name derives from a unit of weight; this is consistent with such other currencies as the British pound. "Peseta" is also the term used in Puerto Rico for a U.S. quarter-dollar coin.
History
The peseta was introduced in 1869 after Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1868. The Spanish Law of June 26, 1864 decreed that in preparation for joining the Latin Monetary Union (set up in 1865), the peseta became a subdivision of the peso with 1 peso duro = 5 pesetas. The peseta replaced the escudo at a rate of 5 pesetas = 1 peso duro = 2 escudos.
The peseta was equal to 4.5 grams of silver, or 0.290322 gram of gold, the standard used by all the currencies of the Latin Monetary Union. From 1873, only the gold standard applied.
The political turbulence of the early twentieth century caused the monetary union to break up, although it was not until 1927 that it officially ended.
In 1959, Spain became part of the Bretton Woods System, pegging the peseta at a value of 60 pesetas = 1 U.S. dollar. In 1967, the peseta followed the devaluation of the British pound, maintaining the exchange rate of 168 pesetas = 1 pound and establishing a new rate of 70 pesetas = 1 U.S. dollar.
The peseta was replaced by the euro in 2002, following the establishment of the euro in 1999. The exchange rate was 1 euro = 166.386 pesetas.
Coins
Last editions of peseta coins (lacks 500 pts. coin) and 1 euro coin for size reference.
In 1869 and 1870, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 50 cntimos, 1, 2 and 5 pesetas. The lowest four denominations were struck in copper (replaced by bronze from 1877), with the 50 cntimos, 1 and 2 pesetas struck in .835 silver and the 5 pesetas struck in .900 silver. Gold 25 pesetas coins were introduced in 1876, followed by 20 pesetas in 1878. In 1889, 20 pesetas coins were introduced, with production of the 25 pesetas ceasing. In 1897, a single issue of gold 100 pesetas was made. Production of gold coins ceased in 1904, followed by that of silver coins in 1910. The last bronze coins were issued in 1912.
Coin production resumed in 1925 with the introduction of cupro-nickel 25 cntimos. In 1926, a final issue of silver 50 cntimos was made, followed by the introduction of a holed version of the 25 cntimos in 1927.
In 1934, the Second Spanish Republic issued coins for 25 and 50 cntimos and 1 peseta. The 25 cntimos and silver 1 peseta were the same size and composition as the earlier Royal issues, whilst the 50 cntimos was struck in copper. In 1937, an iron 5 cntimos coins was introduced along with a brass 1 peseta. The last Republican issue was a holed, copper 25 cntimos in 1938.
During the Civil War, a number of local coinages were issued by both Republican and Nationalist forces. In 1936, the following pieces were issued by the Nationalists:
District
Denominations
Cazalla de Sierra
10 cntimos
Arahal
50 cntimos, 1, 2 pesetas
Lora del Rio
25 cntimos
Marchena
25 cntimos
La Puebla de Cazalla
10, 25 cntimos
The following issues were made by Republican forces in 1937:
District
Denominations
Arenys de Mar
50 cntimos, 1 peseta
Asturias and Leon
50 cntimos, 1, 2 pesetas
Euskadi
1, 2 pesetas
Ibi
25 cntimos, 1 peseta
L'Ametlla del Valls
25, 50 cntimos, 1 peseta
Menorca
5, 10, 25 cntimos, 1, 2 pesetas
Nulles
5, 10, 25, 50 cntimos, 1 peseta
Olot
10 cntimos
Santander, Palencia and Burgos
50 cntimos, 1 peseta
Segarra de Gai
1 peseta
The Nationalists issued their first national coins in 1937. These were holed, cupro-nickel 25 cntimos minted in Vienna. Following the end of the Civil War, the Nationalist government introduced aluminium 5 and 10 cntimos in 1940, followed by aluminium-bronze 1 peseta coins in 1944.
In 1947, the first 1 peseta coins bearing the portrait of Francisco Franco were issued. Nickel 5 pesetas followed in 1949. In 1951, holed, cupro-nickel 50 cntimos were introduced, followed by aluminium-bronze 2 pesetas in 1954, cupro-nickel 25 and 50 pesetas in 1958 and smaller aluminium 10 cntimos in 1959. Silver 100 pesetas were issued between 1966 and 1969, with aluminium 50 cntimos introduced in 1967.
1 peseta 1998
[[88px]][[ 88px]]
King Juan Carlos I
Coat of arms
Following the accession of King Juan Carlos, the only change to the coinage was the introduction of cupro-nickel 100 pesetas in 1976. However, more significant changes occurred in 1982. The 50 cntimos was discontinued, with aluminium 1 and 2 pesetas and aluminium-bronze 100 pesetas introduced. Cupro-nickel 10 pesetas were introduced in 1983. Cupro-nickel 200 pesetas were introduced in 1986, followed by aluminium-cupro-nickel 500 pesetas in 1987. In 1989, the size of the 1 peseta coin was significantly reduced and aluminium bronze 5 pesetas were introduced. Nickel-bronze 25 pesetas and smaller 50 pesetas were introduced in 1990, along with larger 200 pesetas.
Until 19 June 2001, the following coins were minted by the Spanish Fbrica 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 50 pesetas coins issued between 1990 and 2000 were the first[citation needed] that featured the Spanish flower shape.
Spanish flower
Banknotes
In 1874, the Banco de Espaa introduced notes for 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesetas. Except for the 250 pesetas notes only issued in 1878, the denominations produced by the Banco de Espaa did not change until the Civil War, when both the Republicans and Nationalists issued Banco de Espaa notes.
In 1936, the Republicans issued 5 and 10 pesetas notes. The Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda) introduced notes for 50 cntimos, 1 and 2 pesetas in 1938, as well as issuing stamp money (consisting of postage or revenue stamps affixed to cardboard disks) in denominations of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 45, 50 and 60 cntimos.
The first Nationalist Banco de Espaa issues were made in 1936, in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesetas. 1 and 2 pesetas notes were added in 1937. From the mid 1940s, denominations issued were 1, 5, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesetas. The 1, 5, 25 and 50 pesetas were all replaced by coins by the late 1950s.
In 1978, 5000 pesetas notes were introduced. The 100 pesetas note was replaced by a coin in 1982, with 2000 pesetas notes introduced in 1983, 200 pesetas in 1984 and 10,000 pesetas in 1987. The 200 and 500 pesetas notes were replaced by coins in 1986 and 1987.
The penultimate series of banknotes was introduced between 1982 and 1987 and remained legal tender until the introduction of the euro.
Value
equiv.
Dimensions
Colour
Portrait
200
1.20
120 65 mm
Orange
Leopoldo Alas
500
3.01
129 70 mm
Dark blue
Rosala de Castro
1 000
6.01
138 75 mm
Green
Benito Prez Galds
2 000
12.02
147 80 mm
Red
Juan Ramn Jimnez
5 000
30.05
156 85 mm
Brown
Juan Carlos I of Spain
10 000
60.10
165 85 mm
Gray
Juan Carlos I of Spain and Felipe, Prince of Asturias
The last banknotes series (1992) was:
Value
equiv.
Dimensions
Colour
Portrait
1 000
6.01
130 65 mm
Green
Hernn Corts and Francisco Pizarro
2 000
12.02
138 68 mm
Red
Jos Celestino Mutis
5 000
30.05
146 71 mm
Brown
Christopher Columbus
10 000
60.10
154 74 mm
Gray
Juan Carlos I of Spain and Jorge Juan y Santacilia
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.
Replacement by 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 on March 1, 2002, the peseta lost its legal tender status in Spain, and also in Andorra. The exchange rate was 1 euro = 166.386 ESP. Prices in many Andorran supermarkets and other retail establishments are still shown dual-priced in euros and pesetas or in euros and French francs.
Peseta notes and coins that were legal tender on December 31, 2001, remain exchangeable indefinitely at any branch of the central bank.
Symbol
Traditionally, there was never a single symbol nor special character for the Spanish peseta. Common abbreviations were "Pt", "Pta", "Pts" and "Ptas", and even using superior letters: "Ptas".
Common earlier Spanish models of mechanic typewriters had the expression "Pts" in a single type (), as a shorthand intended to fill a single type space () in tables instead of three (Pts).
Later, Spanish models of IBM electric typewriters also included the same type in its repertoire.
When the first IBM PC was designed circa 1980, it included a "peseta symbol" in the ROM of the Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) and Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) video output cards' hardware, with the code number 158. This original character set chart becomes later the MS-DOS code page 437.
Some spreadsheet software for PC under MS-DOS, as Lotus 1-2-3, employed this character as the peseta symbol in their Spanish editions.
Subsequent international MS-DOS code pages, like code page 850 and others, deprecated this character in favour of some other national characters, so the "peseta symbol" life was brief.
In order to guarantee the interchange with previous encodings (namely, the code page 437 in this case), the international standard Unicode includes this character as U+20A7 PESETA SIGN in its Currency Symbols block. Out of that, the use of the "peseta symbol" standalone is extremely rare, and it is outdated since the adoption of the euro in Spain.
See also
Citations
^ Its possible etymology in a Catalan dictionary. Translation: maybe from peceta, diminutive of pea, that may pass to Castilian peseta (official in 1868), or Castilian diminutive of peso that means 'pound' with Catalan- or French-like ending -eta]
References
Krause, Chester L. and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 18011991 (18th ed. 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.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Spanish currency
Overview of the peseta from the BBC
Banco de Espaa: last peseta issues
Coins from Spain with pictures
Related articles
Latin Monetary Union (1865-1927)
Spanish-American War (1898)
First World War (1914-1918/1919)
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Latin Union (Since 1954)
European Union (Since 1957)
Euro (From 1999/2002)
Spanish euro coins
Commemorative coins of Spain
Economy of Spain
Preceded by
Spanish escudo
Spanish currency
18681999/20021
Succeeded by
Euro
^ 1999 by law (on financial markets and business transactions only), two currency units used (the Spanish peseta still had legal tender on all banknotes, coins and personnal bank accounts) until 2002.
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Peso sign Maltese pataca (coin)
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