The course of the Dominican peso to the dollar, ruble or euro is the initial information that tourists who are planning to visit the island republic draw. Let's get acquainted with this local currency. All public and private money transactions in the Dominican Republic are conducted in the country's only legal currency, the peso oro, denoted by the $ symbol. To distinguish it from other pesos, the symbol RD $ is used. One peso contains 100 centavos, they are designated as ¢.
History
The very first Dominican peso was released in 1844. Prior to this, an Haitian gourde divided into 8 reals was used on the island. Then, since 1877, the Dominican Republic began to adhere to the decimal metric system, and the peso was divided into 100 centavos. In the period from 1891 to 1891, the country introduced a second currency - franco, which did not replace the peso and eventually disappeared from use. In 1905, the peso was replaced by the US dollar with a currency ratio of 1 dollar = 5 pesos. In 1937, the peso oro was introduced in the Republic, its value was equal to the nominal value of the US dollar. By inertia, the American currency was still used until 1947.
Pesos banknotes from 1844 to 1905
The basis of all the money in circulation was paper payment instruments. In 1848, the very first trial banknotes in denominations of 40 and 80 pesos were issued, a year later, in 1849, permanent denominations of 1 and 2 and 5 pesos were issued. After 9 years, in 1858 - 10 and 50 pesos. The Finance Committee in 1865 issued banknotes in denominations of 50 and 200 pesos, and the organization "Junta de Credito" followed by banknotes, the nominal value of which was 10 and 20 centavos, a year later the banknotes of 5 and 40 centavos saw the light, and a year later - paper notes in 1, 2, 5 and 10 pesos.
In 1862, the Spaniards issued banknotes, the face value of which was 50 centavos and at 2, 5, 15 and 25 pesos. The last denominations issued by the government were denominations of 1 peso, and this happened in 1870.
Paper money was issued by two private banks:
- The first of them is the capital credit institution National Bank of Santo Domingo, which issued banknotes for 20 years - from 1869 to 1889, in denominations of 25 and 50 centavos, as well as 1, 2, 5, along with 10, 20, 25 , 50 pesos. The same bank issued dollar bills in 1912.
- The second bank, Puerto Plata, issued paper currency in the period from 1880 to 1899, in denominations of 25 and 50 centavos, and in 1, 2, as well as 5, 10 and 50 pesos.
Paper era peso oro, launched in 1947
In 1937, peso oro coins appeared in use, paper banknotes were issued only in 1947 by the Central Bank of the Republic. The advantages of banknotes were 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 pesos oro. In 1992, changes took place - a small number of banknotes of 500 and 2,000 pesos were issued. The first banknote was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, and the second in honor of the Millennium celebration (2000 peso oro banknote). It so happened that by 2005 there were very few of them in circulation. In October 2007, a new 200 peso banknote was issued.
Coins
As for coins, the first pesos appeared in 1844. Before the transition to the traditional decimal system of calculation, there were only bronze coins in denominations of a quarter of real, issued in 1844, as well as in brass, issued in 1844 and in 1848. With the transition to the traditional decimal system in 1877, three new coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2½ and 5 centavos. From 1882 to 1888, coins were issued in denominations of 1¼ centavo. After the cessation of Franco circulation, coins of 10 and 20 centavos, as well as ½ and 1 pesos, similar to those that went out of circulation, appeared in everyday life.
1947 - the appearance of Peso Oro
In 1937, the country decided to issue coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 centavos, as well as ½ pesos. Later, for convenience, in 1939, a trial batch of 1 peso coins was issued. The currency name peso oro has never been spelled this way - completely - only the peso. Since 1967, silver has been replaced by ordinary metal. Since 1991, coins in 5, 10 and 25 pesos appeared in everyday life. Due to continuous inflation, today it is practically impossible to find coins with denominations of less than 1 peso.
US dollar as reserve currency
And here it could not do without him. Since the American currency was present in the everyday life of the country from the very beginning, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic uses it as a reserve. For making private financial transactions, the euro is also allowed, mainly in the field of tourism, this helped the country during the period of strong inflation, which lasted from 2003 to 2004.
The following is the Dominican peso exchange rate to the euro - as of mid-June 2018.
| Euro | Dominican Republic Currency |
| 1.00 | 58 |
The course of the Dominican peso to the ruble as of mid-June 2018, for convenience, 50 monetary units of the island republic were taken.
| Dominican Republic Currency | Russian ruble |
| fifty | 62.84 |
Historical rate correlation
Significant fluctuations in the exchange rate since the first issue in 1948 tended to a significant decrease in the rate of the Dominican peso against the US dollar. The minimum was fixed in 2003, then the course gradually leveled off. And initially, in 1948, currencies maintained value parity - one peso was equal to one US dollar. Here's what the ratios looked like in different years:
- 1984 - 1 USD = RD $ 3.45;
- 1993 - 1 USD = RD $ 14;
- 1998 - 1 USD = RD $ 16;
- 2002 - 1 USD = RD $ 20;
- 2003 - 1 USD = RD $ 57;
- 2004 - 1 USD = RD $ 30;
- 2005 - 1 USD = RD $ 33;
- 2006 - 1 USD = RD $ 32.
Appearance
Banknotes of the Dominican pesos are made with taste, their design is interesting. As a rule, banknotes depict portraits of significant political leaders of the issuing country, architectural monuments, cities. The Dominican currency is no exception. Where can one see the "value" of a banknote? In digital format, the denomination is indicated in the lower left and upper right corners. In the capital - in the lower right corner.
Obverse
The obverse of the 10 RD $ banknote is decorated with a portrait of Matthias Ramon Mella, on the 20 peso banknote in a military uniform flaunts Grigorio Luperon (one of the first presidents). The $ 50 RD note shows the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, located in the capital Santo Domingo.
The banknote of 100 pesos is decorated with three portraits: Juan Pablo Duarte, as well as Francisco del Rosario Sanchez and Matias Ramona Mella. All who are depicted on banknotes are prominent political figures and heroes of the country who lived at different times. From a bill of 200 pesos, the national heroines of the Dominican Republic, the sisters of Mirabal, are looking at us. The banknote of 500 RD $ is decorated with a portrait of the couple Urenya, who made a huge contribution to the culture of the country. Finally, a banknote of 1000 RD $ shows the building of the capital's national palace, and the largest bill in 2000 RD $ is decorated with portraits of the country's leaders - Emilio Pradoma and Jose Reyes, who were presidents at different times.
Reverse
On the reverse side of paper Dominican banknotes, architectural monuments flaunt. For example, on a bill of 10 pesos you can see the so-called Altar of the Fatherland, and on the banknote of 20 pesos depicts the national pantheon. Both are burial places of the largest figures of the state. A banknote of 50 pesos contains an image of a fragment of the famous shrine - the basilica of Altagracia. A note in denomination of 100 Dominican pesos is a fragment of the fortress wall in the capital, 200 pesos show a monument to the famous Mirabal sisters in the center of Santo Domingo, and a bill of 500 pesos depicts the front part of the Dominican Central Bank. As for the two largest banknotes - in 1000 and 2000 pesos, the first depicts the People’s Historical Museum, and the second - the building of the National Theater in Santo Domingo.
What else makes American currency and Dominican peso related? The peso is also tied to the US dollar by production ties - all Dominican banknotes are printed in America by order of the Central Bank of the island republic.
What do coins look like
Very original coins of the Dominican Republic. All of them are of a standard round shape, except for one - the only last coin put into circulation in 25 pesos: on the round profile a clearly distinguished octahedron is crowded out. The obverse shows portraits of prominent political figures, the reverse shows the emblem of the country with a denomination in figures to the left of it. The name of the country is minted in a circle of coins.
Coins are made of different materials. For example, the core of 5 RD $ is made in a bimetallic way from stainless steel, the rim is made of brass. The 10 RD $ coin is minted in brass and the rim in copper-nickel alloy. But 25 RD $ is monolithic and is completely made of an alloy of copper and nickel.
Where were the coins produced? All Dominican metal banknotes belonging to the last series were made at factories in Slovakia.
Where to change
If you come to the Dominican Republic, you should not be confused by the fact of the upcoming exchange of money. If you do not have time to purchase local currency, it does not matter: in the country in the tourist zone, both US dollars and euros can be accepted. Exchange offices with a favorable rate of the Dominican peso to the ruble are located at almost every step, and beaches are no exception. To exchange currency at a better rate, you can contact a private exchange office. The standard working hours of the exchangers are from 8 am to 5 pm local time.
If you arrived in Dominican Republic at night, you can make a currency exchange at the airport, as well as hotels or some restaurants. The rate of the Dominican peso against the dollar, euro and ruble in these institutions working around the clock will probably not be so super profitable, but the commission for the exchange transaction is fixed, does not depend on the amount of exchange and usually does not exceed 5%.