How to tell if your Mexican banknotes are counterfeit

How to tell if your Mexican banknotes are counterfeit.

The handling of foreign currency creates a whole new set of challenges for the business or vacation traveller.

The Bank of Mexico has a webpage dedicated to explaining the security features of the Mexican coins and banknotes so you don’t get bamboozled. Verifying Mexican banknote authenticity

Learn about the security features in Mexican banknotes to eliminate the possibility of receiving “funny money” during your travels.

Security features in manufactured Mexican banknotes – A quick chart to help identify the security features in the current banknotes in circulation in Mexico.

Security features in the 20 Peso polymer banknote

Security features in the 50 Peso paper banknote

Security features in the 100 Peso banknote

Security features in the 200 Peso banknote

Security features in the 500 Peso banknote

Security features in the 1000 Peso banknote

If you believe you have counterfeit Mexican currency, bring it to the attention of a Mexican bank for verification. If the banknote is counterfeit you will not be reimbursed for it’s value, but you might avoid going to jail. Passing counterfeit currency is illegal in Mexico.

The US Department of State Consular information sheet for Mexico states “ A number of Americans have been arrested for passing on counterfeit currency they had earlier received in change. If you receive what you believe to be a counterfeit bank note, bring it to the attention of Mexican law enforcement.”

Related Links

Mexican currency, monetary policy and financial systems – BANXICO

Banco de Mexico – BANXICO – Bank of Mexico

Questions – Answers, Doing business in Mexico

Have any questions about how to do business in Mexico?

Any specific problems or dilemmas related to doing business in Mexico?

Questions about the business culture in Mexico or Mexican culture in general?

Would you like to know more about a specific theme related to Mexican business?

Need references or information about organizations, people or associations in Mexico?

Send your questions to me at   lee.iwan  at  gmail.com
or post a comment here.

Related Links

How to do business in Mexico

Official government websites of the 32 Mexican States 

The definitive dialing guide for calling Mexico

Shorten your learning curve about Mexico

Business South of the Border

What does Gringo mean

The term “Gringo” is used in Mexico to refer to Americans. Depending upon it’s use (and user) it may or may not be an insult.

My experience with the term in Mexico is that it is a convenient way to refer to Americans, much shorter that “Americano” or “Norte Americano”. Most of the time it’s use is not offensive or meant as a derogatory or demeaning remark.

Many Mexicans will not use the term around Americans thinking that it might offend. Even after establishing friendships when the term “Gringo” is used, often someone will apologize.

Where did the term originate? There are several stories, urban myths and rumours:

From Wikipedia: “A recurring false etymology for the derivation of gringo states that it originated during the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. It has been claimed that Gringo comes from “green coat” and was used in reference to the American soldiers and the green color of their uniforms. Yet another story, from Mexico, holds that Mexicans with knowledge of the English language used to write “greens go home” on street walls referring to the color of the uniforms of the invading army; subsequently, it became a common habitual action for the rest of the population to yell “green go” whenever U.S. soldiers passed by. This is an example of an invented explanation, because gringo was used in Spanish long before the war and during the Mexican-American War. Additionally, the U.S. Army did not use green uniforms at the time, but blue ones.

Another legend maintains that one of two songs – either “Green Grow the Lilacs” or “Green Grow the Rushes, O” – was popular at the time and that Mexicans heard the invading U.S. troops singing “Green grow…” and contracted this into gringo.

From the Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages: “Although the first recorded use of “gringo” in English dates from 1849 (when John Woodhouse Audubon, the son of the famous nature artist, wrote that “We were hooted and shouted at as we passed through, and called ‘Gringoes'”), the word was known in Spanish well before the Mexican-American War. According to Rawson, the Diccionario Castellano of 1787 noted that in Malaga “foreigners who have a certain type of accent which keeps them from speaking Spanish easily and naturally” were referred to as gringos, and the same term was used in Madrid, particularly for the Irish. 

The true origin of gringo is most likely that it came from griego, the Spanish word for “Greek.” In Spanish, as in English, something difficult or impossible to understand is referred to as being Greek: We say “It’s Greek to me,” just as in Spanish an incomprehensible person is said to hablar en griego (i.e., “speak in Greek”).”

According to the Real Academia Española (the ultimate reference for the Spanish language): 1. Adjective: Foreigner, especially one who speaks English, in general one who speaks a language other than Spanish. 2. Foreigner 3. In Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua an American 4. In Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru a blond fair skinned person 5. Unintelligible language
Related Links

Doing business in Mexico – cultural tips

Doing Business in Mexico, parts 1 – 28