Guatemala was conquered for Spain by Pedro de Alvarado in the 1520s. Guatemala was part of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala within the Vice-Royalty of New Spain until gaining its independence on September 21, 1821. Guatemala was part of Mexico from 1821 until 1823 when it became a constituent state of the Central American Federation. Guatemala formally became a separate country on March 21, 1847.
Spanish Escudo (XESE) coins were used in Guatemala while it was part of the Vice-Royalty of New Spain. Initially, coins were struck in Mexico and South America and brought to Guatemala, but in 1731 a mint was authorized for Guatemala City to strike silver and gold coins. After the 1773 earthquake destroyed Guatemala City (Antigua), the mint was moved to the new capital, Nueva Guatemala. The Central American Escudoo (XCAE) was used while El Salvador was part of the Central American Federation. Guatemala provided the principal mint for the Central American Federation coins and continued to strike the coins until 1851. The Escudo was divisible into 2 Pesos or 16 Reales.
After gaining its independence, Guatemala issued the Peso (GTP), at par with the Central American Peso, later linking the Peso to the French Franc in 1870 with 1 Peso equal to 5 French Francs. The first Guatemalan coins were issued in 1859. Guatemala attempted decimalization in 1869, 1870 and 1881 but these attempts were not successful. Guatemala continued to issue Reales coins until 1894 even though decimalized Peso coins were issued in 1869. Imported coins were so common in Guatemala during the late nineteenth century that on August 10, 1894 the government decreed that the foreign coins of Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru should be counterstamped for circulation within Guatemala.
The Quetzal (GTQ) was introduced on May 7, 1925 at par with the United States Dollar. US Gold coins were made legal tender. The Quetzal is divisible into 100 Centavos. On May 1, 2001, the United States Dollar (USD) became legal tender in Guatemala. Private banks issued banknotes in Guatemala until July 7, 1926 when the Banco Central de Guatemala became the only banknote-issuing authority in Guatemala. |
