Over the last few years the Mexican government has been rolling out new designs for their currency. It was on my previous trip to Mexico in winter of 2020 that I first received the new 200 peso bills that were issued in September of 2019.
The new design for the 500 peso bill was issued before that in August of 2018, but it was not until a few days ago when I went to an ATM that I actually had one of the new bills in hand. The old bills featured portraits (not very good likenesses in my opinion) of the painters Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo. The new bill has the image of Mexico's most revered President, Benito Juárez.
The small picture to the side of his face, shows the triumphal return of Juárez to Mexico City after defeating Emperor Maximillian, the puppet emperor of the invading French forces.
The back of the bill continues the theme of Mexican ecosystems that are a part of all the new designs. Here you see gray whales off the coast of Baja California.
The 500 peso note is unloved. Even though its value is about $25 in U.S. currency, no one wants to make change for this largest of the commonly distributed bills. They are best spent at supermarkets, department stores, and moderately expensive restaurants. Yet, when you go to an ATM for pesos, most of what the machine spits out will be 500 peso bills. I usually go inside the bank, and ask them to change most of the 500s for smaller bills.
Late last year a new 1000 peso bill was issued. I have never seen a 1000 peso note and doubt that I ever will. Trying to spend one of them is even more problematic. Many stores have signs saying that they are not accepted.
At the same time a new 100 peso bill, one of the most commonly used denominations, was issued. I had not seen it yet, but a few days ago Alejandro received one in his change and gave it to me. It features Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a famous female poet of the colonial era. (She was on the old 200 peso bill.)
The back shows the monarch butterflies in their winter habitat of the pine forests of the mountains of west-central Mexico.
Even with all the restrictions of Covid, and your wise cautiousness, you manage to find interesting things to write about everyday!
ReplyDeleteHey, I was able to write a daily post back in Ohio... there is much more to write about here.
Delete