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
Lempira (Lenca ruler) Governor, Francisco de Montejo, attacked Lempira at the Peñol de Cerquín, near Gracias Department. According to Herrera, Lempira retreated to a fortified hill top where he resisted the Spaniards for many months. Finally, the Spaniards lured him out to talk, and a concealed Spanish soldier with an arquebus shot and killed him. On seeing this, Herrera reports, the Lenca surrendered. This is essentially the official version that is taught to Honduran children in school. The Spanish then ate his corpse in disrespect, many of lempiras men fought the Spanish and taking a victory for their leader. In the 1980s, the