Money Exchange Guys

When you get to Lima, its probable that at some point you're going to need to gain possession of a little bit of the local currency. Sure, everybody pretty much takes dollars here, but let's just say most restaurants don't give you an ideal exchange rate (although they probably do better than the thieves that man the booths at the Houston international airport).

In general, the rate of exchange is about 3 Soles to 1 Dollar. I've seen it as high as 3.7 and as low as 2.7, right now I think it's about 3.2 (right in the middle).

The Peruvian Currency is called a Nuevo Sol. It used to be just a Sol, but then the current president made some poor economic movies (sort of like W., but much worse if you can believe that) and the Sol suffered super inflation. That's the bad situaion where one day a Sol buys you a loaf of bread, the next day that same loaf costs 10 Soles, and the next day 100, then 1000, then 10000 and so on (I talked to a guy who was one of the higher-ups in a bank during this time, it was pretty interesting, that's for another blog I guess).

Anyway, they eventually abandoned the Sol and started a new currency called the Inti, which also died a horrible death. Eventually they came out with the Nuevo Sol in the early 90's and and that's been their currency ever since. It looks like this:

That's a picture of my change from breakfast which proves that the Nuevo Sol is a perfectly legitimate currency which you can actually exchange for real goods (just like the US dollar used to be before this horrendous recession that all the major media networks can't stop talking about and therefore prolonging...economics 101).

Anway, back to the money exchange guys.

One of the peculiar things about Lima is that people are always talking about how "dangerous" it is. That's totally absurd and the fact that on basically every busy intersection you can find a guy in a bright green vest with a dollar sign on his back trying to exchange money with a fistful of bills pretty much proves that fact.

I mean, come on, people don't stand around with huge sweatty wads of money held out in the open in dangerous cities. These guys are kind of crazy. I suppose they're making a Sol or so on every transaction over 100$, but it's GOT to be a little risky. I mean I'VE been tempted to run up to them and grab the money out of their hand and go sprinting off into the night. I bet they couldn't catch me either, most of them don't look all that fast.

These guys are clever though and there's a few things you need to watch out for if you exchange with them.

1. Watch for counterfeit bills: This is easier said than done. There are a couple tricks you pick up, like looking for watermarks and ink that changes colors. Also, most fake bills are printed on paper that feels strange. But if you don't know what a bill is supposed to look like, you aren't going to be able to spot a fake one. The best thing to remember is to simply not take bills that have ANY tears in them ANYWHERE, or are excessively dirty or stained or otherwise disfigured. Peruvians simply don't take grungy bills, it's not like the US where you can accidentally tumble a fifty in the dryer and pass it the next day at the local 7-11, they simply won't take those bills here (this is why I like going to Banco de Commercio to get my Soles, they always have new bills there).

2. Know what the approximate rate of exchange is for that day so that you know you're getting a good rate. Most of the time the change guys have a set rate they give you, but if they smell a person who seems to not know what they're doing, they're going to jump at the chance to make 10 Soles (I would too if I were in their position).

3. Bring your own calculator: Sometimes they quote you a rate and have a calculator that's rigged to give you a different number. You say you're changing a hundred for 3.20 and they type it in the calculator and it comes out 314 for example. Sure, that's easy enough to spot when it's 100 Dollars, but try multiplying 87 X 3.2 quickly in your head while simultaneously dodging traffic.

4. Don't get so caught up examining the money they have given you and trying to be clever to avoid counterfeit bills only to not properly count out what they have given. They love to short you 10 Soles or so this way, especially if they see you are rigorously examing every bill (I'd do it to like I said before).

Actually, the best thing to do is just go to any old ATM, they give you money in Soles, so make it easy on yourself and bring your ATM card (a debit card, not a credit card).

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