Beautiful downtown Catemaco, Veracruz just became a lot clearer to see, financially. A new plastic 50 peso bill has arrived, similar to the now common 20 peso bill.
Like the 20 peso bill, It has a little plastic window, so you can see what you are spending your money on. At the rate things are going in Mexico, they should have made this window a magnifier. (Prices of milk, gas, tortillas, cigarettes, etc. just went up.) Nevertheless, after the introduction of plastic 20 peso bills, supposedly lasting several life times longer than the old crinkly bills, I presume most Mexican money will soon be plastic.
Unfortunately that darn 50 peso bill still maintains more or less the same colors as the 500 peso bill and is easy to spend by mistake. But more than likely you never receive the correct change, in case you are stupid enough to confuse the two.
This is not boring “In God we trust” money, José María Morelos y Pavón, whose portrait graces the bill is quoted “May slavery be banished forever together with the distinction between castes, all remaining equal, so Americans may only be distinguished by vice or virtue”.
As anyone spending money in Mexico knows, any bill with any defect is rejected by most shopkeepers, although the official rules are not as strict:
If you have any of the following bills, they are supposed to be retired by a bank:
Bills that got wet or are bleached.
Stapled bills.
Supposedly the following bills are supposed to stay in circulation:
Bills with spots of fat, blood, paint, etc unless they hide some imprint on the bill.
Bills glued back together with transparent tape.
Bills marked with messages such as “Pedro loves Maria”, but nothing political.
Bills marked with bank stamps.
Throw these bills into the garbage:
Bills fixed with tape that is not transparent.
Bills marked with political messages such as “I love Peje”
