Currency of Uruguay Currency of Uruguay This is an outline of Uruguay's monetary history. For the present currency of Uruguay, see Uruguayan peso. Uruguay's currency was initially that common to all of Spanish America. During the struggle over this region, initially between Spain and Portugal, then between Argentina and Brazil, the coinage of both contestants circulated. When the area was annexed to Brazil in 1821 as Provincia Cisplatina, the Portuguese (Brazilian) administration put notes of Banco do Brazil into circulation. This was the first paper money to circulate in Uruguay. Then, in 1826–1828, Argentine troops fighting against Brazil were paid in one-peso notes
Currency of tax evasion. Local currencies can also come into being when there is economic turmoil involving the national currency. An example of this is the Argentinian economic crisis of 2002 in which IOUs issued by local governments quickly took on some of the characteristics of local currencies. One of the best examples of a local currency is the original LETS currency, founded on Vancouver Island in the early 1980s. In 1982, the Canadian Central Bank’s lending rates ran up to 14% which drove chartered bank lending rates as high as 19%. The resulting currency and credit scarcity left island residents