Centavo
A centavo (from the Latin centum "hundred", from the Spanish or Portuguese word cento ) is the smallest currency unit in many, especially in Spanish or Portuguese-speaking countries (one hundredth of the base unit, especially one hundredth of a peso or one hundredth of an escudo ) .
Currently (October 2006) the Centavo (abbreviated c , also ¢ ; plural: Centavos , abbreviated cts , also ctvs , cvs , C and CT ) is used in the following countries (the name of the base unit in brackets):
- Argentina ( Peso )
 - Bolivia ( Boliviano )
 - Brazil ( Real )
 - Chile ( Peso )
 - Dominican Republic ( Peso )
 - El Salvador ( Colon )
 - Guatemala ( Quetzal )
 - Honduras ( Lempira )
 - Cape Verde ( Escudo )
 - Colombia ( Peso )
 - Cuba ( Peso )
 - Mexico ( Peso )
 - Mozambique ( Metical )
 - Nicaragua ( Cordoba Oro )
 - Philippines ( Peso ),
 
also in East Timor and Ecuador , where the US dollar is the national currency, but the coins are minted in the country and are not called cents , but Centavo in East Timor and Centavo del Sucre in Ecuador.
Centavos used to be available in
- Ecuador ( Sucre , 1884–2000; the centavo still exists today as a sub-unit of the US dollar)
 - Guinea-Bissau (Peso, 1975–1997)
 - Paraguay (Peso, –1943)
 - Peru ( Sol , –1985)
 - Portugal ( Escudo , -1999/2002)
 
In Portugal, however, the Centavo was no longer in use long before the introduction of the euro .
In Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua and East Timor, Centavo was already the name for a hundredth of one or more predecessors of the currency that is valid today.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old dimensions, coins and weights. A lexicon. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, licensed edition Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , pp. 375–378.