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Mexican peso: research record

Evidence coverage: 1821–1906. This is the span of collected observations, not the currency’s lifetime.

This record includes associated currencies and earlier interpretations. The article selects the evidence relevant to its own history.

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Currency continuity

Mexican peso

MXN · Research draft
One scoped currency identity. Changes to subdivisions, scale, standard, instruments or issuers do not by themselves create children. A distinct account unit can remain a successor.
Current currency in the inherited endpoint register.
Dated observations: 1821–1906; this does not establish the entire lifetime.

Parents / predecessors

Spanish real / peso de a ochoaccount unit branching · qualified · 1821–1823
↗

Children / successors

Straits / Malayan / Malaya–British Borneo dollarterritorial currency separation · 1903–1906
↗
Hong Kong dollaraccount unit branching · qualified · 1863–1866
↗
Philippine peso, twentieth-century reform lineageaccount unit contribution · 1904 · later absorption or contribution
↗
Macao patacaterritorial currency separation · 1894–1906
↗
Indochinese piastreterritorial currency separation · 1878–1887
↗

Siblings

Unit and issue records 2 records

Evidence within this identity, not separate currencies.

Mexican peso, 1993 scaleFTM000479 · C140
Earlier accounting observation · C1202

Latest research

Earlier unit continuity

Independent Mexico issued compulsory peso-denominated paper in December 1822 while continuing real-denominated coinage.

Sources and qualifications →
Modern account-unit review

The locally used Mexican-dollar reckoning differentiated into the Straits dollar through the1903–1906 reform: Mexican dollars were the1890 standard within existing commercial dollar accounts; local dollars replaced them and obtained an independent exchange value. Actual dollar accounts plus explicit local replacement establish ancestry; metal equivalence alone is not the basis.1906 completes independent valuation, not a further node.

Sources and qualifications →
Modern account-unit review

Macao pataca accounting was explicitly established as one Mexican dollar per pataca in1894; the subsequent local currency adopted that accounting unit. This is explicit adoption of an existing monetary account, not etymology or coin weight alone. Local issue chronology remains bounded; the ancestry is supported.

Sources and qualifications →

Reforms within this currency

1993Redenominated as

1993 scale change.

C140
Monetary history 3 events

Includes dated issues, standards, subdivisions and institutional changes. Each event retains the source's date qualifications.

1823Republican coin designs; units retained

Banxico says the 1823 Republic retained reales and escudos while changing coin designs.

C138
1905Gold-standard reform

Banxico describes decimal coinage in 1869–1905, with interruptions, and a gold-standard reform in 1905.

C139
1993First issue

Mexico introduced one new peso for 1,000 old pesos on 1 January 1993; dropping “new” in 1996 did not repeat the conversion.

C140
Evidence & research notes 15 claims

Dated observations, not a proven complete lifespan.

Supported C138

Banxico says the 1823 Republic retained reales and escudos while changing coin designs.

Banco de México · History of Mexican Currency Citation S67 · Open source ↗

PDF p. 19

Source access and limitations

First Mexico pieces apparently 1536; not first eight-reales issue.

Selected milestones, not all mints or rebel issues.

Supported C139

Banxico describes decimal coinage in 1869–1905, with interruptions, and a gold-standard reform in 1905.

Banco de México · History of Mexican Currency Citation S67 · Open source ↗

PDF pp. 22–23

Source access and limitations

First Mexico pieces apparently 1536; not first eight-reales issue.

Selected milestones, not all mints or rebel issues.

Supported C140

Mexico introduced one new peso for 1,000 old pesos on 1 January 1993; dropping “new” in 1996 did not repeat the conversion.

Banco de México, archive blog · A 30 años de la introducción del nuevo peso Citation S68 · Open source ↗

Reform chronology

Source access and limitations

Historical evidence only; current legal status and every intervening amendment are not inferred.

Supported C167

NLB describes Spanish/Mexican dollar use and the 1874 acceptance of Japanese yen and U.S. trade dollars in the Straits.

National Library Board, Singapore · History of Singapore’s currency Citation S82 · Open source ↗

Foreign coin section

Source access and limitations

Selected issue chronology; 1899 note date used with attribution.

Occupation notes did not erase all prewar legal status.

Supported C182

Shanghai Museum documents Spanish and Mexican silver-dollar use in coastal China and later domestic silver-dollar reforms.

Shanghai Museum (2019) · 熠熠千年:中国货币史中的白银 [Silver in Chinese monetary history] Citation S61 · Open source ↗

Foreign silver and reform paragraphs

Source access and limitations

Broad institutional interpretation; no single universal tael standard or exclusive silver-use onset adopted.

Supported C955

Mexican dollars were another input to Hong Kong’s local silver-dollar standard.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority · Monetary Systems in Hong Kong’s History Citation S453 · Open source ↗

PDF pp. 2 and 4: silver-dollar basis, local 1866 issue and 1935 currency reform

Supported C956

The Straits dollar displaced Mexican dollars among several circulating silver-dollar currencies. Other trade-dollar inputs remain to be individually traced; 1899 note issue predates the new coin.

National Library Board, Singapore · History of Singapore’s currency Citation S82 · Open source ↗

1867–1903 and 1903–1939 sections

Source access and limitations

Selected issue chronology; 1899 note date used with attribution.

Occupation notes did not erase all prewar legal status.

Inference C1165

Hong Kong’s locally issued dollar system developed within accounting legally denominated by reference to the Mexican dollar; the 1864 law makes local cents and mils fractions of that dollar and converts public sterling obligations into it. Qualified local differentiation; compresses development into a territorial unit. No exact date of separate currency identity is inferred from the first local coin issue. Supersedes standard-only treatment of the existing MXN reference, rather than adding duplicate edge.

Hong Kong Ordinance No. 1 of 1864: Conversion of British Currency · Hong Kong Ordinance No. 1 of 1864: Conversion of British Currency, with Governor proclamation 22 January 1864 Citation S560 · Open source ↗

Section 1; preamble; Governor proclamation; 1890 edition vol.1 pp.572–575

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Full official-law transcription inspected; OCR imperfections do not affect currency/conversion provisions.

Supported C1166

Act 1045 made obligations in Mexican local currency enforceable as Philippine-peso judgments, allowed settlement in Philippine pesos, and extinguished the old obligation upon payment. Partial input to a multiple-currency replacement. The conversion was adjudicated by value, not a universal 1:1 exchange. Do not infer merely from purchase of Mexican silver as bullion.

Philippine Commission Act No.1045 · Philippine Commission Act No.1045, 27 January 1904 Citation S561 · Open source ↗

Sections 1, 3–6, 8, 11–12

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Inference C1169

Macao adopted the local practice of accounting for a Mexican silver dollar as one pataca into its territorial currency. The 1894–1906 association is qualified; neither the first note issue nor the later Hong Kong-dollar peg establishes a currency birth.

Corrected interpretation: Revision 27 supplies a new evidence basis for R-V23-009. This is explicit adoption of an existing monetary account, not etymology or coin weight alone. Local issue chronology remains bounded; the ancestry is supported. Replacement evidence: C1611.

Ding Hao · Ding Hao, A Brief History of Macao Currency, Macau Memory; excerpt from Macau Currency (2019), pp.10–33 Citation S566 · Open source ↗

Main paragraph; authorship/source metadata at bottom; PDF pp.1–2

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Caixa Geral de Depósitos Historical Heritage Office: Primeiras Notas Portuguesas em Macau · Caixa Geral de Depósitos Historical Heritage Office: Primeiras Notas Portuguesas em Macau Citation S567 · Open source ↗

Main paragraph; authorship/source metadata at bottom; PDF pp.1–2

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Inference C1181

Independent Mexico retained Spanish peso/real reckoning while developing its own monetary system. A qualified territorial continuity based on the retained accounting system; contemporary fiscal law is still sought.

Banco de México · History of Mexican Currency Citation S67 · Open source ↗

Sections 1.3–1.4 pp18–19 and 2.2 pp42–43: independent Mexico retained Spanish octal real/escudo system; 1822 compulsory peso notes

Source access and limitations

First Mexico pieces apparently 1536; not first eight-reales issue.

Selected milestones, not all mints or rebel issues.

Supported C1202

Independent Mexico issued compulsory peso-denominated paper in December 1822 while continuing real-denominated coinage.

Banco de México · History of Mexican Currency Citation S67 · Open source ↗

Sections 1.3–1.4 pp18–19 and 2.2 pp42–43: independent Mexico retained Spanish octal real/escudo system; 1822 compulsory peso notes

Source access and limitations

First Mexico pieces apparently 1536; not first eight-reales issue.

Selected milestones, not all mints or rebel issues.

Supported C1606

The locally used Mexican-dollar reckoning differentiated into the Straits dollar through the1903–1906 reform: Mexican dollars were the1890 standard within existing commercial dollar accounts; local dollars replaced them and obtained an independent exchange value.

William F. Spalding (1920) · Eastern Exchange, Currency and Finance Citation S840 · Open source ↗

ChapterXI pp.136–141

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Supported C1611

Macao pataca accounting was explicitly established as one Mexican dollar per pataca in 1894; the subsequent local currency adopted that accounting unit.

Ding Hao, Macao Foundation / Macao Memory · A brief history of Macao currency Citation S808 · Open source ↗

Opening paragraph

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Full introductory account-unit passage inspected, not merely search snippet.

Supported C1701

The Indochinese piastre developed from local Mexican-dollar/piastre reckoning after unsuccessful franc introductions. Conant describes acceptance of the piastre unit and local fractional issues followed by1885piastre coinage; the colonial common currency retained Mexican-dollar parity. This is regional account-unit adoption, not descent inferred only from a metal standard.

Charles A.Conant · A History of Modern Banks of Issue (1915) Citation S869 · Open source ↗

Conant pp607–608; UQAM opening paragraphs

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

Christopher Goscha / UQAM · Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War: Currency, French Indochina Citation S870 · Open source ↗

Conant pp607–608; UQAM opening paragraphs

Source access and limitations

Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.

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