The lempiras is the currency of Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The lempira was named after the 16th-century cacique

Cacique

Cacique is a title derived from the Taíno word for the pre-Columbian chiefs or leaders of tribes in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles...

Lempira, a ruler of the indigenous

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 Lenca people, who is renowned in Honduran folklore for leading the (ultimately unsuccessful) local native resistance against the Spanish

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

 conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

forces. He is a national hero, and is honoured on both the 1 lempira note and the 20 and 50 centavos coins.

History

The lempira was introduced in 1931, replacing the peso

Honduran peso

The peso was the currency of Honduras between 1862 and 1931.-History:The peso replaced the real at a rate of 1 peso = 8 reales. Initially, the peso was subdivided into 8 reales. In 1871, the currency was decimalized, with the peso subdivided into 100 centavos...

 at par. In the late 1980s, the exchange rate was two lempiras to the U.S. dollar (the 20 centavos coin is called a daime as it was worth the same as a U.S. dime). As of July 18th, 2011, the lempira was quoted at 18.875 HNL to 1 USD. U.S. dollars

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 are widely accepted as currency on the Bay Islands, but the mainland mainly deals in Lempiras. Businesses in major tourist centers on the mainland will also generally accept dollars.

Coins

In 1931, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 20 & 50 centavos & 1 lempira. 1, 2 & 10 centavos coins were added in 1935, 1939 & 1932 respectively. The silver 1 lempira coins ceased production in 1937, with the other silver coins (20 & 50 centavos) replaced by cupro-nickel in 1967.

Coins currently in circulation are http://www.bch.hn/monedas.php

• 1 centavo - discontinued
• 2 centavos - discontinued
• 5 centavos - now rendered obsolete, prices are rounded to the next 10 centavos
• 10 centavos
• 20 centavos
• 50 centavos

Banknotes

The Bank of Honduras and the Banco Atlantida issued the first lempira banknotes in 1932. They were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 lempiras. The Central Bank of Honduras took over production of paper money in 1950, introducing 50 lempiras notes in 1951. In 1975, 100 lempiras notes were added, followed by 500 lempiras in 1995.

In January, 2010, a new 20 Lempira note was introduced to market made by a polymer base, 60 million notes were issued.

Banknotes in circulation are http://www.bch.hn/billetes.php

Image	New	Value	Color	Dimensions	Obverse
		L1	Red	156 × 67 mm	Lempira
		L2	Purple		Marco Aurelio Soto Marco Aurelio Soto Marco Aurelio Soto was President of Honduras from 27 August 1876 until 19 October 1883. he was known as a liberal. He was a reforming President and had a great impact on the Honduras of his time, including the establishment of the Biblioteca Nacional de Honduras in 1880.-Biography:Dr. Marco...
		L5	Blue		Francisco Morazán Francisco Morazán General Francisco Morazán was a Honduran general and a politician who ruled several Central American states at different times during the turbulent period from 1827 to 1842. He rose to prominence at the legendary Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827...
		L10	Brown		Jose Trinidad Cabañas José Trinidad Cabañas José Trinidad Cabañas served as President of Honduras for two separate terms: From 1 March to 6 July 1852. And 31 December 1853 to 6 June 1855. He was a General and liberal politician whose role in Honduran history began during the Civil War 1826-29...
		L20	Green		Dionisio de Herrera Dionisio de Herrera José Dionisio de la Trinidad de Herrera y Díaz del Valle was a Liberal Honduran politician, head of state of Honduras from 1824 to 1827 and head of state of Nicaragua from 1830 to 1833. During his terms, Honduras and Nicaragua were states within the Federal Republic of Central America...
		L50	Cyan		Juan Manuel Galvez Juan Manuel Gálvez Juan Manuel Gálvez Durón was President of Honduras from 1 January 1949 until 5 December 1954. His election, for the National Party of Honduras , ended the 16-year dictatorship of Tiburcio Carías Andino....
		L100	Orange		Jose Cecilio del Valle José Cecilio del Valle José Cecilio Diaz del Valle was a philosopher, politician, lawyer, and journalist and one of the most important figures in Central America during the transition from colonial government to independence, displaying a wide-ranging expertise in public administration management.Valle nicknmed 'The...
		L500	Violet		Ramon Rosa