# Change in Peso currency



## costaricamex (Jul 7, 2017)

Just a question regarding what I heard about the peso currency bills being changed.
I understand there is a new 500 peso bill and they will be phasing out the 20 peso bill and replacing with the coin.

I have some bills of all denominations and am visiting in two weeks. I was not planning on taking all the pesos with me this time.

Can anyone explain what the plan is for bill changes and when and how long the old style bills are accepted? If some will expire I should bring all of them and use them. Should I be bringing all my 500 pesos bills? 

Muchas Gracias


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

You just filled me in on my curiosity.
I got handed a 20 peso coin some time ago and was wondering when that came about. It looked relatively new but not fresh mint.
So the 20 coin has been circulated but i rarely see in my town. I still get 20 peso bills handed to me for change after a purchase.

Also, i was in line somewhere and saw a large amount of money being sorted and noticed a lot of very strange and fresh mint looking bills. I tried to mind my own business but that did not happen until after i noticed the strange bills flashed glimpses of 500 on them.
So yes i can say i have seen the new 500 notes at commercial transaction locations.
But always and up to now, i have only been getting the usual 500 peso bill dispensed to me at the local ATM machines. 

I think it is a slow release and maybe even further slowed by the people who sit on huge sums of illicit cash and they rush to grab every new note off the streets to replace the old notes in their illicit stash. That way they don’t go through banks or places that will draw questions about the source of hay bales of money, made out of 500 peso notes and brought in to exchange for new notes. 

I think you still have plenty time. I am here now in Mexico and not seeing the new coin or the new bills pass through my hands. Just one rare occaison of a 20 coin dropped in my hand.


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## EmilyTravels (May 19, 2018)

I live in the Yucatan (since Nov 1). I have seen exactly one 20-peso coin (just in the last week!), and a mix (about 50/50) of the old and the new 500 peso notes. Different ATMs give the old vs. the new. Since banks are still handing the old ones out, I expect they will be accepted for many years to come.

In other word, don't worry, just come and enjoy Mexico!


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Actually 20 peso coins used to be around , but I haven't encountered any for a long time. They were quite difficult to tell apart from the 10 peso coins, just slightly bigger and heavier. Haven't seen any new ones, hopefully they'll be a little more easy to distinguish.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Interestingly the official Bank of Mexico website, Banxico, does not yet show the new $20 peso coin, only a commemorative $20 coin that’s been available for a while. Apparently on social media back in September people were saying that commemorative coin was the design of the new coin, but it’s not (according to Forbes Mexico). The Banxico website does show the new $500 bill.
Diseños actuales, circulación, Banco de México


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

costaricamex said:


> Just a question regarding what I heard about the peso currency bills being changed.
> I understand there is a new 500 peso bill and they will be phasing out the 20 peso bill and replacing with the coin.
> 
> I have some bills of all denominations and am visiting in two weeks. I was not planning on taking all the pesos with me this time.
> ...


Haven't seen any 20 peso coins or new 500 peso bills down here in Zihuatanejo yet. I found that commemorative 100 peso bill interesting....the one with a large group of diputados giving that strange Mexican salute so reminiscent of the Nazi's "Heil Hitler". Several of the diputados on the left side of the group appear to be offering a particularly limp-wristed version of the salute.


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## costaricamex (Jul 7, 2017)

Thanks for all your answers. Sounds like no problems for using bills I have. I do remember seeing a 20 peso coin last June. Frankly I would rather have a 20 peso bill than one more new heavier coin. But whatever.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

The 20 peso coin is not new & has been around for years. It is just unpopular for some reason.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

RVGRINGO said:


> The 20 peso coin is not new & has been around for years. It is just unpopular for some reason.


According to the official list of “coins in circulation” of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico.com), all of the 20 peso coins released to date have been commemorative editions, listed below with their respective dates when they were released into circulation:

- 50th Anniversary of the Implementation of the Navy Plan (Plan Marina)	November 23, 2018 

- Fiftieth Anniversary of the Implementation of the DN-III-E Plan	
July 12, 2017

- 100th Anniversary of the Enactment of the Constitution of the United Mexican States
February 5, 2017

- Bicentennial of General José María Morelos y Pavón’s Death	December 22, 2015

- Centennial of Mexico’s Air Force	October 14, 2015

- Centennial of the Taking of Zacatecas	September 5, 2014

- Centennial of the Heroic Deed of the Port of Veracruz	August 14, 2014

- 150th Anniversary of the Birth and 100th Anniversary of the Death of Belisario Domínguez	November 5, 2013

- 100 years of Mexico’s Armed Forces	August 15, 2013

- Twentieth Anniversary of Octavio Paz receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature	March 31, 2011

- Octavio Paz, the New Millennium	April 3, 2000


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I got one of them a few years ago and thought it was interesting so I kept it. Then I mentioned it to a friend and she said they were common, so I spent it. Afterwards, I discovered she thought I was talking about the $20 peso bill, not the coin. 

Then a couple of years later, I got a second $20 peso coin. That time I kept it and still have it. It is labeled "Centenario de la Constitución Politica de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1917-2017".


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

ojosazules11 said:


> Interestingly the official Bank of Mexico website, Banxico, does not yet show the new $20 peso coin, only a commemorative $20 coin that’s been available for a while. Apparently on social media back in September people were saying that commemorative coin was the design of the new coin, but it’s not (according to Forbes Mexico). The Banxico website does show the new $500 bill.
> Diseños actuales, circulación, Banco de México


The new blue 500 peso note began showing up at ATMs three weeks ago in Manzanillo, but the same machines are as likely to dispense the old brown ones the next day. I've gotten a couple of 20 peso coins in change at toll booths, don't know if they were new or old. Good link to the Banxico currency list, but my curiosity about the 1000 peso Miguel Hidalgo note remains unsatisfied. It's like the old Chupacabra mystery: people talk about it, have seen pictures in the news, and seemingly everybody knows someone whose cousin's compadre insists he saw a live one--- but has anybody actually _touched one_?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I used to collect coins in 1993 through 2003+ when there were 20-- 50 & 100 peso coins in circulation...Wonder what they are worth in todays market???

I use 1000 Pesos notes for Hotels....


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

perropedorro said:


> The new blue 500 peso note began showing up at ATMs three weeks ago in Manzanillo, but the same machines are as likely to dispense the old brown ones the next day. I've gotten a couple of 20 peso coins in change at toll booths, don't know if they were new or old. Good link to the Banxico currency list, but my curiosity about the 1000 peso Miguel Hidalgo note remains unsatisfied. It's like the old Chupacabra mystery: people talk about it, have seen pictures in the news, and seemingly everybody knows someone whose cousin's compadre insists he saw a live one--- but has anybody actually _touched one_?


Yes, I have actually touched one of the 1000 peso notes. They are rare. I have never seen one dispensed by an ATM. I received a few some months back when I went to my local bank for _efectivo _to pay some contractors doing work at my house.


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