Honduran lempira

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Honduran lempira**
**lempira hondureño (Spanish)**
ISO 4217 Code	`HNL`
User(s)	Honduras
Inflation	8.8%
Source	The World Factbook, 2005
Subunit
1/100	centavo
Symbol	L
Coins	10, 20, 50 centavos
Banknotes	L1, L2, L5, L10, L20, L50, L100, L500
Central bank	Banco Central de Honduras
Website	www.bch.hn

The lempira (ISO 4217 code: HNL) is the currency of Honduras. It was introduced in 1931, replacing the peso at par.

The exchange rate was two lempiras to the U.S. dollar in the late 1980s (a twenty-cent coin is called a daime as it used to be worth the same as a U.S. dime). By December 2004, the exchange rate had gone up to around 18.75 HNL to 1 USD. During 2005 it stabilized at 19 HNL to 1 USD where it remains in August 2006.

The lempira is named after the 16th-century cacique Lempira, a ruler of the indigenous Lenca people, who is renowned in Honduran folklore for leading the (ultimately unsuccessful) local native resistance against the Spanish conquistador forces. He is a national hero, and is honored on both the one lempira bill (which is red) and on the 50 cent coin.

The capital of Gracias a Dios department, Puerto Lempira, is also named after him, as is the department of Lempira.

[edit] Coins

The different values for lempira coins are:

0.10 lempira - No Face
0.20 lempira - face of Lempira
0.50 lempira - face of Lempira

though in practice the highest coin is worth USD 0.0263, making Honduras effectively a coinless society.

[edit] Banknotes

Banknotes are issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500.

These banknotes depict the following figures from Honduran history:

Image	Value	Color	Dimensions	Obverse
Image:1Lempira.jpg	L1	Red	156 x 67 mm	Lempira
Image:2Lempira.jpg	L2	Purple		Marco Aurelio Soto
Image:5Lempira.jpg	L5	Blue		Francisco Morazan
Image:10Lempira.jpg	L10	Brown		Jose Trinidad Cabañas
Image:20Lempira.jpg	L20	Green		Dionisio de Herrera
Image:50Lempira.jpg	L50	Cyan		Juan Manuel Galvez
Image:100Lempira.jpg	L100	Orange		Jose Cecilio del Valle
Image:500Lempira.jpg	L500	Violet		Ramon Rosa

Current HNL exchange rates

Use Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
Use XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

Currencies of the Americas
Northern America	Bermuda dollar \| Canadian dollar \| Danish krone (Greenland) \| Euro (Saint-Pierre et Miquelon) \| US dollar \| Mexican peso
Central America <td> Belize dollar \| Costa Rican colón \| Guatemalan quetzal \| Honduran lempira \| Nicaraguan córdoba \| Panamanian balboa \| US dollar (El Salvador)
Caribbean	Aruban florin \| Bahamian dollar \| Barbados dollar \| Cayman Islands dollar \| Cuban peso \| Cuban convertible peso \| Dominican peso \| East Caribbean dollar \| Euro (Guadeloupe, Martinique) \| Haitian gourde \| Jamaican dollar \| Netherlands Antillean gulden \| Trinidad and Tobago dollar \| US dollar (British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands)
South America	Argentine peso \| Bolivian boliviano \| Brazilian real \| Chilean peso \| Colombian peso \| Euro (French Guiana) \| Falkland Islands pound \| Guyanese dollar \| Paraguayan guaraní \| Peruvian nuevo sol \| Suriname dollar \| US dollar (Ecuador) \| Uruguayan peso \| Venezuelan bolívar
This box: view • talk • edit</div>