Ecuador Forum

Travelightly
Joined 2010
Posts: 26

14 years ago

Ecuador currency

14 years ago

This is from Gary Scott. Thought I'd pass it along.

Ecuador Cash Tips

Since paper money is identical you can bring US dollars to use when in Ecuador. US and Ecuador coins are both accepted as tender in Ecuador. Ecuadorian coins minted in Ecuador are the same in size, weight, workmanship and color as US coins but have different reliefs and are only legal currency in Ecuador. So you can bring in US coins and use them…but spend your Ecuador coins while in Ecuador as they are useless in the US.

You can bring dollars with you…except $50 and especially $100 dollar bills. These are accepted only with caution. Outside major cities sometimes it is impossible to cash $100 dollar bills. There is a lot of counterfeiting of $100 bills in Colombia, so the Ecuador Central Bank issues a list of valid $100 bill serial numbers. If the serial number of your $100 bill (even though it is real) is not on the validated list, you may not be able to use it in many places.

Bills that are easy to use in Ecuador are the $1, $5, $10 and $20. The coins are the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, fifty cent piece. Plus the one dollar coin is very popular in Ecuador. I always wondered where all the Susan B. Anthonys went!

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Help others in Ecuador by answering questions about the challenges and adventures of living in Ecuador.