Ecuadorian sucre
The sucre was the currency of Ecuador between 1884 and 2000. Its ISO code was ECS and it was subdivided into 10 decimos or 100 centavos. The sucre was named after Antonio Jose de Sucre.
History
The sucre replaced the peso at par. Initially, the peg of the peso to the French franc was continued, with 1 sucre = 5 francs. A peg to the British pound was established in 1898, with 10 sucres = 1 pound. This represented a devaluation of nearly 50%. In 1927, a peg to the U.S. dollar was introduced, with 5 sucres = 1 dollar. This time the devaluation was nearly 60%. The condor, worth 25 sucres, was introduced the following year. The peg was abandoned in 1932 and the sucre's value began to fall.
In 2000, in response to a major financial crisis, the country switched its currency to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 1 dollar = 25,000 sucres. The sucre was fully demonetized shortly after the transition. Ecuador now only issues its own coins.
Coins
In 1884, cupro-nickel and 1 centavo, and decimo, and silver 1 and 2 decimos, and 1 sucre coins were introduced. Centavo coins minted as subdivisions of the peso continued to circulate after the introduction of the sucre. Copper replaced cupronickel in the and 1 centavo in 1890, whilst silver decimo coins were introduced in 1893. The 10-centavos coin was called a real, with the 5-centavos coin known as a medio (meaning half). Gold 10 sucres were issued in 1899 and 1900.
In 1909, cupro-nickel , 1, 2 and 5 centavos coins were issued, followed by 2 centavos in 1917 and 10 centavos in 1918. Production of silver coins was suspended in 1916. In 1928, a new coinage was introduced consisting of a bronze 1 centavo, nickel 2, 5 and 10 centavos, silver 50 centavos, 1 and 2 sucres, and gold 1 condor. The 1 sucre coin was reduced from 25 grams of 90% silver to 5 grams of 72% silver, whilst the condor, worth 25 sucres, was equivalent to a U.S. quarter eagle coin. The new coins were dubbed Ayoras after the president, Isidro Ayora. In 1937, nickel 20 centavos and 1 sucre coins were introduced, followed by brass 5, 10 and 20 centavos in 1942 and silver 5 sucres in 1943. The last silver coins (2 and 5 sucres) were struck in 1944.
Cupro-nickel replaced brass in the 5, 10 and 20 centavos in 1946, with a cupro-nickel 1 sucre introduced in 1959. 1959 also saw the introduction of nickel-clad steel 20 centavos, with this metal replacing others in the 5, 10 and 50 centavos and 1 sucre between 1963 and 1970.
In 1988, nickel-clad steel coins for 10, 20 and 50 sucres were introduced, whilst high inflation in the 1990s lead to bi-metallic coins for 100, 500 and 1000 sucres being introduced between 1995 and 1996.
Banknotes
The first sucre-denominated banknotes were issued by private banks. The Banco del Ecuador issued provisional notes for 80 centavos and 4 sucres between 1885 and 1887 due to a conversion rate of 5 pesos = 4 sucres for the earlier notes of this bank. Regular notes were issued until 1926 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 sucres. 1 sucre notes were issued by the Banco Anglo-Ecuatoriano in 1885 and 1886, and by the Banco de Quito in 1885.
The Banco de la Union issued notes between 1887 and 1895 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 sucres, whilst the Banco Internacional issued notes between 1887 and 1894 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500 and 1000 sucres. The Banco Comercial y Agricola issued notes between 1895 and 1925 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 sucres. The Banco del Pinchincha issued notes for 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 10 sucres between 1907 and 1924. The Banco del Azuay issued 1, 2, 5 and 10 sucres notes between 1914 and 1924. The Campania de Credito Agricola e Industrial issued 2 and 10 sucres notes in 1921. Finally, the Banco de Decuento issued 5 and 50 sucres notes in 1923 and 1924.
In 1926, the Caja Central de Emision y Amortizacion was established to effect the transition of currency issues from private banks to a central bank. It issued notes in 1926 and 1927 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 1000 sucres which were overprints on the notes of private banks.
The first notes of the Central Bank were issued in 1928 in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 sucres. 500 and 1000 sucres notes were added in 1944. In 1987 and 1988, 5000 and 10,000 sucres notes appeared, with notes up to 50 sucres replaced by coins. 20,000 and 50,000 sucres notes followed in 1995. Some notable appearances on various banknotes include Dr. Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo, on the 500-sucre note, and Simon Bolivar, shown on the 100-sucre note.
Notes used during the last years of the sucre include:
S/. 5,000 , worth (at dollarization time) US$ 0.20
S/. 10,000 (Obverse: Ecuador's second (first Ecuadorian born) president Vicente Rocafuerte. Reverse: Independence Monument at Quito's main square (Plaza Grande)), worth US$ 0.40
S/. 20,000 , worth US$ 0.80
S/. 50,000 , worth US$ 2.00
Historic exchange rates
Sucres per U.S. Dollar:
25.00 (1979)
2,564.50 (1995)
3,189.50 (1996)
3,988.30 (1997)
5,446.60 (1998)
11,786.80 (1999)
24,860.70 (January 2000)
25,000.00 (at dollarization time)
See also
Economy of Ecuador
External links
IMF working paper on the financial crisis.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Ecuadorian sucre
