Money, money, money

The recent controversy over Britain’s decision to put Jane Austin’s face on a tenner got me thinking about the relationship between a country’s currency, history and cultural heritage.

This inspired the theme of the following post, which examines the cultural history of Mexico in pesos and banknotes.

     1)1000 pesos

Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla not only appears on a banknote but also has an airport named after him. He was the leader of the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821), when the Mexicans fought the Spanish to regain control of their own country. As part of this war, he led an army of just under 90,000 campesinos and Mexican civilians. Hidalgo’s forces were poorly equipped and trained and were defeated by the Spaniards. Hidalgo was later executed by a Spanish firing squad.

    2) 500 pesos

Diego Riviera-aka el sapo (the toad) appears on the front of this banknote and his ex-wife, Freida Kahlo on the back. Reasons for their separation include mutual infidelities and el sapo’s violent temper. In their lifetime, Riviera’s art was far more famous than Kahlo’s;  whereas nowadays, Kahlo’s work is more internationally renowned.

Above: photo of Frida and el sapo. Source: wiki

Kahlo on love:

"Leaving is not enough. You must stay gone. Train your heart like a dog. Change the locks even on the house he's never visited. You lucky, lucky girl. You have an apartment just your size. A bathtub full of tea. A heart the size of Arizona, but not nearly so arid. Don't wish away your cracked past, your crooked toes, your problems are papier mache puppets you made or bought because the vendor at the market was so compelling you just had to have them. You had to have him. And you did. And now you pull down the bridge between your houses, you make him call before he visits, you take a lover for granted, you take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic. Make the first bottle you consume in this place a relic. Place it on whatever altar you fashion with a knife and five cranberries. Don't lose too much weight. Stupid girls are always trying to disappear as revenge. And you are not stupid. You loved a man with more hands than a parade of beggars, and here you stand. Heart like a four-poster bed. Heart like a canvas. Heart leaking something so strong they can smell it in the street"

                       Above: Henry Ford Hospital 1992 by Frida Kahlo. Source=artchive.com

      3) 200 Pesos

Sor Inés de la Cruz-hmm I recognize this name from my Oxford reading list. What a pity I never read this famous poet/nun. For anyone who hasn’t heard this name, it’s pretty obvious she’s a literary figure judging by the inkpot, feather pen and library by her side.

    4) 100 pesos

Nezahualcoyotl. An Acholhuan leader who fought to reclaim Texcoco. He led an army of 100,000 men to the capital of Texcoco to reclaim power from other indigenous tribes. However, he’s best known for his poetry and his alias is el Rey Poeta. He wrote in Nahuatl, an indigenous language still spoken by over 1.5 million people. He also built an aqueduct by the castle of Chapultepec and founded several temples.

Mr Unpronounceable Himself. Source: mexicodesconicido.com

    5) 50 pesos

My favourite banknote because it’s relatively new (they added a few extra features to make it more secure) so it always comes crisp and clean rather than mauled and grubby (see 20 pesos). The best part of this banknote isn’t Morelos, it’s the butterflies. Sorry Morelos.

    6) 20 pesos

The protagonist of this banknote is el presidente Don Benito Juarez García (1806-1872). For security reasons, as well as a watermark, the new 20 pesos note also has a dove in the left-hand corner which changes colour when you hold it up to the light. The dove is symbolic of Don Benito’s rule, in which universal human rights were advocated.

Paloma Mural from artelista.com

    7) Monedas (Coins)

      10, 5, 2 & 1 peso coins are all based on different rings of the Aztec Calendar. Very cool.

     

                                    Source: noticias.vaticano.com

                                    La Piedra del Sol (The Aztec Calendar) as shown in the Museo Antropolgia                                     Mexico, which I visited this weekend.

Use this hyperlink to find out which ring corresponds to which coin and what it means (explanations in Spanish only-sorry Anglophiles)
http://www.cmm.gob.mx/cono.html