Peso

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Peso is the name of the currency of various countries:

• Argentina: Argentine peso (ISO 4217: ARS)
• Chile: Chilean peso (CLP)
• Colombia: Colombian peso (COP)
• Cuba: Cuban peso (CUP)
• Dominican Republic: Dominican peso (DOP)
• Mexico: Mexican peso (MXN, previously MXP)
• Philippines: Philippine peso (PHP)
• Uruguay: Uruguayan peso (UYU)

Spanish is spoken in all these countries. In Spanish, peso means weight. The main Spanish coin, was a piece worth eight reales. This is the famous "piece of eight" and later became called the peso. The peso coin weighed 27 grams and was of 92 per cent pure silver. It was the template for the United States coins and one silver dollar equaled exactly one peso. The Spanish peso circulated throughout the European colonies in the Americas and, later, in the United States. They continued to be legal tender until they were demonetized in 1857.

Portuguese-speaking Guinea-Bissau previously used pesos (GWP) prior to adopting the CFA franc (XAF) upon accession to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) on 1 May 1997.