The Kingdom of Quito was invaded by Spanish armies in 1532 and was conquered by Francisco Pizarro by 1541. Ecuador was part of the Vice-Royalty of New Granada until 1819. The States of Guayaquil and Cuenca became independent in 1820 and were incorporated into Great Colombia in 1822. Ecuador gained its independence on May 13, 1830 as the State of the South of Colombia and was renamed the State of Ecuador on September 1830, becoming a republic on August 8, 1835.
Spanish Escudo coins (XESE) were used in what is now Ecuador until 1835 when Ecuador gained its independence. The Escudo was divisible into 2 Pesos or 16 Reales. Coins were counterstamped MDQ (Moeda de Quito) in 1831 and in 1833 a mint was opened in Quito. Ecuador continued to use Escudos and Pesos until December 5, 1856 when Ecuador adopted the French monetary system, and introduced the Ecuador Franco (ECF), equal to 1 Peso and divisible into 5 Francos, as the basic unit of account.
The Ecuador Sucre (ECS) was introduced on November 21, 1871 and was decimalized. Only a 1 Centavo coin was minted in 1872, but a full set of coins were issued in 1884. The Sucre was divisible into 10 Decimos and 100 Centavos, and 25 Sucres were equal to 1 Condor which was equal to a British sovereign. Ecuador left the Gold Standard on February 8, 1932.
On October 2, 2000, the United States Dollar became the legal tender currency within Ecuador, replacing the Sucre. Six private banks issued banknotes in Ecuador until March 4, 1927 when the Banco Central del Ecuador was granted the exclusive privilege of issuing banknotes. | 
