Dominican peso

History

The first Dominican peso was introduced with the country's independence from Haiti in 1844. It replaced the Haitian gourde at par and was divided into 8 reales. The Dominican Republic decimalized in 1877, subdividing the peso into 100 centavos. A second currency, the franco, was issued between 1891 and 1897 but did not replace the peso. However, in 1905, the peso was replaced by the U.S. dollar, at a rate of 5 pesos to the dollar. The peso oro was introduced in 1937 at par with the U.S. dollar, although the dollar continued to be used alongside the peso oro until 1947..

First peso, 1844–1905

Only one denomination of coin was issued by the Dominican Republic before decimalization. This was the ¼ real, issued in 1844 in bronze and in both 1844 and 1848 in brass. Decimalization in 1877 brought about the introduction of three new coins, the 1, 2½ and 5 centavos. 1¼ centavo coins were also issued between 1882 and 1888. In 1891 Dominican Republic entered in the Latin Monetary Union and changed its currency to the franco including coins of 5 and 10 centesimos struck in bronze and 50 centesimos, 1 and 5 francos struck in silver. After the franco was abandoned, silver coins were introduced in 1897 in denominations of 10 and 20 centavos, ½ and 1 peso. The designs of these coins were very similar to those of the franco.

OLDER COINS

Peso Oro, from 1937

Coins were introduced in 1937 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 centavos and ½ pesos with limited numbers of 1 peso coins first minted in 1939. All coins bore the national arms on the reverse while all except the 1 centavo bore a crowned allegorical Indian head on the obverse. The 1 centavo instead depicted a palm tree, the symbol of the ruling Dominican Party. The coins were all of identical weights, diameter, and composition to U.S. coins of the era. Two denominations appeared on these coins, one in "centavos" or "pesos" and another in "gramos" to represent a pre-decimal silver weight system formerly used in much of the region. A two coin set of 1955 commemorative coins were minted for the 25th anniversary of Rafael Trujillo's reign. These consisted of a gold 30 peso (33,000 minted) and a silver one peso, both showing him in profile. 50,000 of the silver one peso coins were produced in issued into circulation, but after Trujillo was assassinated in 1961 an estimated 32,550 were recalled and melted down. In 1963 the silver content in the 10, 25, 50, and 1 peso coins was reduced from .900 pure to .650 pure. The 1963 issue also distinctively commemorated the centennial of the republic and the crowned Indian head was added to the 1 centavo, replacing the palm.

After 1963 the Peso Oro became a fiat currency and base metals replaced silver in the higher denominations, with the 10, and 25 centavos and ½ pesos reintroduced in copper-nickel in 1967. 1 peso coins were struck as only commemorative in small numbers. In 1976 a new coin series was introduced featuring Juan Pablo Duarte, and in 1983 another series was released featuring various other figures important to Dominican history, including the Mirabal sisters and formally dropping the outdated "gramos" denomination reference. In 1989, the content of the coins was changed from copper-nickel to nickel-plated steel. In 1991, eleven sided circulating non commemorative 1 peso coins were reintroduced in copper-zinc, followed by bimetal 5 pesos in 1997, and a bimetal 10 pesos and copper-nickel 25 pesos in 2005. However, due to inflation, any coins below 1 peso are now rarely found.

RECENT COINS

Relation with the U.S. dollar

The United States dollar is used as a reserve currency by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. Also, when convened by both parties, both U.S. dollars and the euro can be used in private transactions (this applies mostly in tourism-related activities). This was most true during the drastic inflationary period of 2003–2004.

Historical exchange rates

Historically, since the first monetary emission in 1948, the peso was worth about the same as a United States dollar.

The exchange rate for U.S. dollar vs. Dominican peso over the last few decades is as follows:

In 2004 the peso dramatically plummeted; a single US dollar was worth almost RD$60.00.

Since 2004 the peso has reached a more stable rate of RD$35–39 pesos to 1 U.S. dollar. As of January 2013, there were some RD$52.76 pesos to the euro, or around RD$40.40 pesos to the U.S. dollar. In 2016 it is now 45 peso to the US$ and yet the standard wage in DR remains about 500 peso per day. So in 15 years the US value of Dominican Peso has gone from $1 = 20 peso to 45 peso. In 2000 a 500 daily pay could give you US$25. Now it gives you $11