This article provides a historical summary of the currency used in Ecuador. The present currency of Ecuador is the United States dollar, but it also mints its own centavo coins.
1822–1830 Gran Colombia
Peso = 8 Reales (silver) Onza = 8 Escudos = 16 Pesos (diamonds)
Quito was part of Gran Colombia until 1830 as Departamento del Sur. Gran Colombia's monetary regulations retained the old Spanish colonial system, with both milled and hammered coins circulating. Gold and silver were minted at Popayán and Bogotá, and copper at Caracas. On July 28, 1823, Bolívar authorized a mint at Quito, but almost a decade would pass before one opened there. Cobs (macuquina) were ordered withdrawn in 1826, but because of the lack of other coins, they continued to circulate in the provinces; only old Spanish colonial coins and macuquina, mostly Peruvian, circulated.
1830–1850 Peso
1830–1836 State of Ecuador
Countermarked coin The 1832 countermark was intended solely for coins minted at Bogotá (Cundinamarca) between 1815 and 1821. But coins of below-standard fineness had been minted at Bogotá in 1823–1826 but dated 1821, and most were put into circulation in the Quito department during the Gran Colombia period.
Coins of Cundinamarca and Granada, dated 1818–1821, counterstamped 'MdQ' (quantities unknown): 1/4 real 1/2 real real 2 reales 8 reales
Silver coin Obv.: arms of Colombia, rim inscription EL ECUADOR EN COLOMBIA and QUITO below the insignia; rev.: denomination, rim inscribed EL PODER EN LA CONSTITUCION; below the year and GJ (assayer's initials). A 1-real coin was authorized February 28, 1833. Minting of the medio real began September 30, 1832, before its characteristics had been established, which explains why some have the letter "M" (according to the law) while others have "1/2."
silver 666 fine dated 1833–1836
1/2 real 16 mm real, 20 mm, 3.00–3.95 g 2 reales, 25 mm
Big Coin Obv. Indian head with band reading LIBERTAD, the rim inscribed EL ECUADOR EN COLOMBIA, and under the head QUITO. The minting of 2-escudo pieces began in 1834. Some have their value expressed as 2-E (2 escudos), others as 1-D (1 doblón).
gold 875 fine dated 1836–1838 escudo, 18 mm, 3.383 g doblón, 22 mm, 6.766 g
1836–1843 Republic of Ecuador
History
After Ecuador became "República del Ecuador" on June 28, 1835, the inscription (rev.) "EL ECUADOR EN COLOMBIA" was changed to "REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR" (but the Colombian arms were retained). The minting of 1 and 2 escudo coins ceased because of an influx of counterfeits of these coins. In their place, President Vicente Rocafuerte authorized a media onza (4-escudo or doblón de a cuatro).
After more minting equipment was obtained from Chile and installed at Quito, the minting of onzas (8-escudo pieces) was authorized (February 1838). A 4-real coin was authorized October 8, 1841, with the same features as the other denominations, but with the added inscription "MORAL INDUSTRIA" around the circumference, making the coin more difficult to counterfeit.
Poor quality and counterfeit coins from Colombia and Bolivia entered circulation in Ecuador, and the coins produced by the Quito mint had many flaws, so that currency standards were difficult to maintain. The use of merchant tokens became widespread. In an attempt to end the use of tokens, the government introduced a cuartillo (1/4 real) in 1842. The cuartillo was 333 fine and was called a calé (the name given in Spain to the 4-maravedí coin, which in Ecuador came to be applied to any small coin of low value).
Silver coin silver 333 fine cuartillo, 16 mm (1842)
silver 666 fine 1/2 real, 17 mm (1838, 1840) real, 20 mm (1836–1841) 2 reales, 25 mm, 5.80–6.10 g (1836–1841) 4 reales, 31.5 mm (1841–1843)
Gold coin gold 875 fine 1/2 onza (4 escudos), 28 mm, 13.500 (1836–1839, 1841) onza (8 escudos), 34 mm, 27.064 g (1838–1843)
1843 monetary law and coin Counterfeiting had reached alarming proportions during 1842. At this time, Ecuador was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The National Convention passed a new monetary law in June 1843, changing the coin type (design) in an effort to distinguish good money from bad. It adopted a new coat of arms for the obverse and placed a bust of Simón Bolívar on the reverse in both gold and silver. It authorized a gold onza (E.8), 1/2 onza (E.4), doblón (E.2), escudo, and 1/2 escudo (never minted). Silver coins were the peso fuerte (R.8), medio peso (R.4), peseta (R.2), real, medio (R.1/2), and cuarto (R.1/4). But the absurdly low quantities of coin minted in 1844–1845 resulted in an influx of worn coin and coin of inferior quality from neighboring countries.
medio peso (R.4), 33 mm (1844, 1845) onza (E.8), 36 mm (1844, 1845)
1846–1856 Peso fuerte
History On December 29, 1845, President Vicente Ramón Roca authorized a coin to compete with the fuertes (full-bodied coin) of other countries. This was the peso fuerte, 903 fine. The standard of 875 fine for gold was identical to that of Ecuador's neighbors and presented no problem. The standard of 903 fine for silver, however, resulted in a heavy export of the coin. It disappeared as soon as it entered circulation (Gresham's law), grabbed up by the merchants of Guayaquil. On July 7, 1846, the value of the fuerte was raised from 8 to 9 reales in a vain attempt to keep it in circulation.
The November 1846 monetary law adopted a new type with a bust of Bolívar for gold and a Liberty bust for silver. These appeared on coins dated 1847. The bulk of the circulating currency consisted of poor-quality, worn coins. As soon as the new silver coins appeared, they were clipped and perforated in order to reduce their value to that of the circulating currency, while gold coins immediately disappeared abroad.
By the 1850s the Quito mint was not receiving enough precious metals to justify its operation. It had to coin a minimum of 6,000 pesos a year just to meet overhead. The mint was shut down during 1853 while the government considered the options of keeping it open or shutting it down. The mint equipment was worn and could not produce coins in sufficient quantity to compete with the foreign coins that entered Ecuador, especially through the port of Guayaquil.
Many coins in circulation were pierced with a hole, and this was causing problems in financial transactions. The governor of Pichincha Province proclaimed that anyone piercing a coin minted after 1855 would be punished according to existing penal regulations and that anyone receiving such a pierced coin had to make note of the person passing it.
Silver coin silver 666 fine dated 1847–1852 1/4 real, 12 mm, 1849–1862 1/2 real, 17 mm, 1848–1849 2 reales, 27 mm, 1847–1852
silver 903 fine dated 1846 peso fuerte, 38 mm, 27.000 g (1,386 pieces)
Gold coin gold, 875 fine dated 1847–1856 onza, 37 mm, 27.064 g
1856–1871 Franco Peso = 5 Francos = 10 Reales
History Congress passed a new monetary law on December 5, 1856, adopting the French decimal system, a standard of 0.900 for silver, and the Ecuadorian Franco, equal to 4.500 g fine silver or 290.3225 mg fine gold. The peso remained a unit of account equal to 5 francos. This measure was intended to avoid the error committed with the peso fuerte of 1846. Only decimal standard coins were to be accepted after October 15, 1866.
The Ecuadorian silver coinage had been debased ever since 1833. The government wanted to produce coins of high silver content to finance foreign exchange, so the debased silver had to be withdrawn and replaced with 900 fine silver. This was the reason for the 5-Franco coin, but its appearance in October 1858 caused some confusion. The decimal system was quite unfamiliar to the public, and, despite the franco's introduction, the custom of counting in pesos of 8 reales or tostones of 4 reales continued.
Production of the 5 francos could not be sustained, and it proved impossible to replace all the poor coin (moneda feble, i.e., coin 666 fine). The 1859 earthquake closed the Quito mint until 1861.
Banco Particular de Guayaquil obtained permission in June 1861 to have 200,000 pesos in coin 666 fine minted on the pre-1856 octal system (Sistema Octavario). The dies for the coins were engraved in Paris and arrived in Quito in October 1862. These were the last coins produced at the Quito mint. In February 1863 the mint equipment gave out, and the government did not attempt to replace it. Besides, Banco de Guayaquil had no wish to continue minting: in minting 35,580 pesos, it had suffered a loss of 6,776 pesos (19%). Thus, after 1863, all Ecuadorian coin was minted abroad.
To keep coins in circulation, President Gabriel García Moreno prohibited the export of 666 fine coins. The circulation of various kinds of tokens became common. Imbabura Province, in the north, was authorized to allow the free circulation of Colombian francos.
Paper Banco de Circulación y Descuento de Manuel Antonio de Luzarraga, Guayaquil, issued Ecuador's first banknotes in 1859 in denominations of 1, 4, 5, 10, and 20 pesos. All its notes were redeemed.
La Caja de Amortización, Guayaquil, opened in 1860, issuing notes for 5 and 10 pesos in the amount of 100,000 pesos. It closed in 1861.
Banco Particular de Descuento y Circulación de Guayaquil, founded in 1861 by an association of 50 merchants, began issuing notes in 1862 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, and 20 pesos, adding a 50 and 100 in 1864, and notes for 2 and 4 reales in 1865. This bank did much to popularize the use of paper money. It merged into Banco del Ecuador in 1870.
Banco de Circulacion y Descuento de Planas, Pérez y Obarrio opened at Guayaquil in 1865 and, without government authorization, issued 300,000 pesos in notes of 4 reales and 1, 5, 10, and 20 pesos. In 1867 it was obliged to recall its notes and close its doors.
Banco del Ecuador, founded in 1867, began operations at Guayaquil in 1868, issuing overprinted notes of the Luzarraga bank for 1, 4, 5, and 10 pesos. It issued new notes in 1870 for 2 and 4 reales and 1 peso.
Coin silver 666 fine
1/4 real, 12 mm (1855, 1856, 1862) 2 reales, 26 mm (1857, 1862) 4 reales, 33.5 mm (1855, 1857, 1862)
silver 900 fine 5 francos, 37.5 mm, 25.000 g (1858)
1871–1884 Peso Peso = 10 Reales = 100 Centavos Conversion: 1 peso = 5 francos
History The silver peso of 25.000 g 900 fine was made the monetary unit on November 21, 1871, and it was decimalized on November 21, 1873. The issue of 1 and 2 centavo copper coins (minted in Birmingham) was decreed June 8, 1872, and President García Moreno provided that the new coins would be received by the government at the rate of 10 centavos per real or 100 centavos per peso fuerte of 10 reales. This established a legal equivalence between the old money and the new. It was further arranged to have Banco del Ecuador import coins based on the French decimal system. García Moreno thus settled the basic problems of Ecuador's currency.
In 1877 President Ignacio de Veintimilla authorized the free circulation of coins less than 900 fine, with the immediate result that good-quality coins disappeared from circulation, replaced by coins from Chile and Bolivia that were only 500 fine.
Paper Banco del Ecuador issued notes for 2 & 4 reales and 1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500 & 1000 pesos.
Banco Nacional, Guayaquil, issued notes briefly in 1871 for 2 and 4 reales and for 1, 5, 10, 20, and 100 pesos. It was taken over by Banco del Ecuador, which began withdrawing Banco Nacional's notes in 1872.
Banco de Quito was the first Quito-based bank. It began issuing notes in 1874 for 2 reales and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesos. A new series appeared in 1880 for 1, 5, 10, 20, and 100 pesos.
Banco de la Union, Quito, issued notes from 1882 for 1, 5, 10, 20, and 100 pesos. It handled the personal finances of President Veintimilla.
Banco Anglo-Ecuatoriano was established in 1884 at Montecristi, later moving to Guayaquil. It issued notes for 1, 5, and 10 pesos.
Coin copper, Birmingham, dated 1872