Money, money, money!
Learn something, money!
That's a cool song... [sarcasm in Spanish]
Hello, friends!
Welcome to Spanish and Go, where we explore the culture,
traditions, and language of Spanish speaking countries.
In this episode we're going to be talking about something
every traveler coming to Mexico needs to know about.
Mexican dinero.
Ready?
Ready.
Let's get started.
Before you visit Mexico, it's helpful to familiarize
yourself with the currency you're going to be using while on your trip.
In this episode we're going to show you how
to get and convert Mexican pesos from U.S. dollars as well
as some interesting facts about the almighty peso.
Okay, you have a few options to get your hands on some pesos.
The first one is bancos. They usually have an exchange service,
and you can use that prior to your trip you can just go to the bank
get some pesos and you'll be ready to go to Mexico.
Right, banks like U.S. bank, Wells Fargo.
Yeah. Number two is the currency exchange kiosks that you can
find at most any airport,
and also in most cities where there’s tourism.
So, that’s option number two.
And option number three, is ATMs. That’s our preferred
way of getting pesos when we are here in Mexico.
We have learned that we get better rates when we use the ATM
instead of going to the bank or exchanging money at the kiosks.
So, those are the three options you have.
Once you have your hands on some pesos it's helpful to know how
much you'll be spending with this easy formula.
Right now in 2017 one U.S. dollar equals about 20 pesos.
It kind of hovers below and above, but about 20 pesos,
which makes it really easy to convert. If you're going
to buy something that says it's 500 pesos, all you need to do
is move the decimal point over one and that will leave you
with 50. Cut that in half and that's how much it is going
to be in U.S. dollars. So, half of fifty is twenty
five dollars. Or, if 50 U.S. dollars and you
want to convert that pesos, all you need to do is move
the decimal point over the other way and double it. So 50 hours
adding a zero at the end you’ve got 500. Double that.
You’re looking at about a thousand pesos.
Or you can just use Siri. That’ll work too.
Here we have all the different denominations of money in pesos
except for one. But we know where to get it.
I’ll be right back. We have it.
The 1000 pesos bill.
You probably won't get to see this bill when you're here
in Mexico because it's not very common, but it is real.
It exists.
The Mexican peso is the eighth most traded currency in
the world, the third most traded currency all over America,
after the U.S. and the Canadian dollar,
and the most traded in Latin America.
It was the first in the world to use this sign even before
the U.S. dollar.
Current Mexican coins in existence are: 5, 10,
20, and 50 cents, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 pesos.
Current Mexican bills in existence are:
20, 50,
100, 200,
500, and 1000 pesos.
As with U.S. dollars, Mexican money portrays
the image of important people from the country's history.
In the case of Mexican pesos, the people on the bills are
famous luminaries who lived before,
during, and after the Spanish conquest.
For example, the 1000 pesos bill pictures Miguel Hidalgo,
Mexican national hero. Leader of the Mexican War
of Independence. And the 500 pesos bill shows Diego Rivera,
Mexican muralist and his wife Frida Kahlo a renowned
Mexican artist.
All denominations of Mexican currency vary in color texture
and size in an effort to deter counterfeiting and to assist
the blind. The four largest bills are not only the longest,
but are also made out of a different material than the
50 and 20 pesos bills.
The larger bills are made from paper while the 50 and 20
are plastic.
Learning about the money you're using when you're visiting a new
country is a great way to learn about the history and culture of
this place.
We hope this video helped you get acquainted
with Mexican pesos. Until later!
Goodbye!