Time Period: 1904-

Currency: Panamanian Balboa


Timeline

  • 13.02.1904
  • Constitution of the Republic of Panama, §117 forbids the issuance of paper money by the state; still in force (§262 of the constitution of 2004)
  • 13.06.1904
  • Law [No. 74] on the establishment of the state-owned "Mortgage and Loan Bank of Panama", supposed to execute a supervisory function but without being a real cantral bank; effective upon constitution of the bank on 12.10.1904.
    - 11.01.1911: Law [No. 6], changed the bank name into "National Bank of Panama"; effective immediately.
  • 28.06.1904
  • Law [Ley sobre moneda, No. 84] on the creation of a gold currency called "Peso de Oro"; effective by presidential decree [No. 74] of 06.12.1904:
    - United States gold coins had legal tender status, Panama issued only subsidiary coins.
    - The law was based on a monetary agreement [Legal Tender and Fractional Silver Coinage] between the United States and Panama of 20.06.1904
    - 50 Cents (silver) of 25 grams silver 0.900.
  • 01.09.1904
  • Start of currency exchange:
    - 01.09.1904: Start of issuance of Panamanian subsidiary coins
    - 30.10.1904: Demonetization of the Colombian solver coins at a rate of 100 Panamanian Cents = 212.50 Colombian Cents.
  • 01.12.1917
  • Law ["Algunas Disposiciones Sobre Moneda", No. 62] on the issuance of new subsidiary coinage, introduced the name "Balboa" instead of "Peso"; effective 06.12.1917:
    - Balboa (silver) of 25 grams silver 0.900.
  • 1919-1952
  • Issuance of tokens to be used as subsidiary coinage in the Palo Seco Leprosorium (operative 1907-1964) in the Panama Canal Zone:
    - Around 1919: Issuance of tokens of 1 Dollar, 50, 25, 10, 5, 1 Cents, for 1'800 US Dollars in total
    - Around 1952: Demonetization and withdrawal of the tokens
    - 28.11.1955: Destruction of tokens for 1492.75 US Dollars in total.
  • 19.12.1930
  • Law ["Adicional y reformatoria de la Ley 62 de 1917", No. 73] on the issuance of new subsidiary coinage; effective 10.01.1931:
    - Balboa (silver) of 26.73 grams silver 0.900
    - 15.09.1931: Presidential decree [No. 96], authorized the issuance of the first silver coin of 1 Balboa.
  • 30.09.1941
  • Presidential decree [No. 6] on the establishment of the "Central Currency Bank of the Republic of Panama" as central bank; not implemented since the government was overthrown in the coup d'état of 09.10.1941 and revoked by presidential decree [No. 19] of 30.12.1941.
    - 01.10.1941: Ordinance [No. 103] on the issuance of paper money of 20, 10, 5, 1 Balboas (before the central bank had been constituted)
    - The note issuance was stopped immediately after the coup d'état, and all notes were recalled by the December decree and destroyed until 06.07.1942.

Valuation Regimes

  • 1904-
  • Fixed rate against US Dollar; US paper money is sole legal tender

Rate Arrangements

  • 06.12.1904
  • Fixed
  • US Dollar at 1 : 1
  • -


End-year Forex Rates (Units per US Dollar)