The real was the currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

 of Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

 until 1871. There were no subdivisions but 16 silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 reales equalled 1 gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 escudo

Escudo

The escudo is a unit of currency. Historically it was used in Portugal and in its colonies, and is still used in Cape Verde to this day. Escudo is Portuguese for "shield"...

, with the 8 reales coin known as a peso.

History

Until 1822, the Spanish colonial real

Spanish colonial real

The silver real was the currency of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at two billon reals or sixty-eight Spanish maravedís. Gold escudos were also issued...

 circulated, followed by the Colombian real

Colombian real

The real was the currency of Colombia until 1837. No subdivisions of the real existed until after the real had ceased to be the primary unit of currency. However, 8 reales = 1 peso and 16 reales = 1 escudo.-History:...

. Ecuador introduced its own coinage

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

 in 1833, with the Ecuadorian real replacing the earlier currencies at par. In 1856, the currency was pegged to the French franc

French franc

The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...

, with 8 reales = 5 francs (1 real = 62½ centimes). From 1862, banknotes were issued denominated in pesos and reales. The real was replaced by the peso

Ecuadorian peso

-History:Peso was the name of the 8 real coins circulating in Ecuador since the Spanish colonial period. In 1856, the currency was pegged to the French franc, with 1 peso = 5 francs. From 1862, paper money was issued denominated in reales and pesos. The peso was formally adopted as the currency of...

 in 1871 at a rate of 8 reales = 1 peso.

Coins

Silver coins were issued in denominations of ¼, ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. In 1858, a coin denominated as 5 francos was issued. This was worth 8 reales and was issued to indicate the currency's link to the French franc. Coinage production was suspended in 1862.

Banknotes

Private banks issued paper money denominated in reales between 1862 and 1871. For details, see Ecuadorian peso.