Due to high inflation the currency of Republican Peru, the Sol, was abandoned in 1985 and the Inti introduced. Caused by the bad economic state of Peru and terrorism in the late 1980s the Inti soon lost its value as well, hyperinflation struck the country and the Peruvian government was forced to introduce a new currency in 1991: the Nuevo Sol.

Since 1991 the Nuevo Sol is Peru´s currency. However, almost everywhere in Lima the US Dollar is accepted. The International code for the Peruvian currency Nuevo Sol (S/.) is PEN. The Nuevo Sol is subdivided into 100 Centimos. There are banknotes for S/. 10, S/. 20, S/. 50, S/. 100 and S/. 200. Coins have been issued for 1 Centimo, 5 Centimos, 10 Centimos, 20 Centimos, 50 Centimos, S/. 1, S/. 2 and S/. 5.

Nowadays the Nuevo Sol is a quite stable currency with a moderate inflation (not to mention a few hiccups due to the worldwide turbulences in 2008) and has a more or less steady exchange rate with the US Dollar.

Do you know the background and history of the pictures on the banknotes for your country? In Peru you won’t find any pictures of former presidents on them, but rather some of the famous personalities which are all part of our extensive history. This is why such a banknote doesn't only stand for the pure nominal value, but also passes on culture. In this chapter we would like to introduce our money and give you a short explanation of the illustrations.

The 'Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (BCRP)' has issued new banknotes that contain besides the standard security features, like watermark and security stripe, other characteristics that should hopefully protect against forgeries:

On the security stripe that is recognizable with ‘back-light’ you can find the markings: ‘PERU’ and the declaration of
In the middle of the banknote is a new shimmering band on which you can see the letters ‘BCRP’ and the value of
The declaration of value on the right side of the bank note is printed with a special ink and method. You'll see the
Older banknotes without these new features have additionally some small glittering chips in the middle of the note

Peru has had three monetary systems. The first one is the Sol (Spanish word for sun) or Soles (plural). In the 80's Peru changed to the Inti. In 1991 Peru changed its monetary system again to replace the highly inflated Inti with the Nuevo Soles at a rate of 1 Nuevo Sol = 1,000,000 Intis. The return to this name is considered appropriate as it could be derived from historical use and divination of the sun as a symbol of power and as a way of connecting the new currency to the old Inti, which was named after Inti, the Sun God of the Incas. In the little gallery below we have collected some pictures of old banknotes dated from 1879 to 1990.