Honduran lempira Honduran lempira The lempira (, sign: L, ISO 4217 code: HNL) is the currency of Honduras. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The lempira was named after the 16th-century "cacique" Lempira, a ruler of the indigenous Lenca people, who is renowned in Honduran folklore for leading the (ultimately unsuccessful) local native resistance against the Spanish "conquistador" forces. He is a national hero, and is honoured on both the 1 lempira note and the 20 and 50 centavos coins. The lempira was introduced in 1931, replacing the peso at par. In the late 1980s, the exchange rate was two lempiras to
European Monetary System European Monetary System European Monetary System (EMS) was an arrangement established in 1979 under the Jenkins European Commission where most nations of the European Economic Community (EEC) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. After the demise of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, most of the EEC countries agreed in 1972 to maintain stable exchange rates by preventing exchange rate fluctuations of more than 2.25% (the European "currency snake"). In March 1979, this system was replaced by the European Monetary System, and the European Currency Unit (ECU) was defined. The basic elements of the arrangement