Cincuenta quetzales

The departure of my youngest daughter tonight on a three week charity project to Guatemala meant that we briefly had some 50 quetzal notes in the house. Some points of interest are as follows:

The currency is named after the bird which bears the same name. See PGH's journal for a superb picture of this strikingly coloured member of the trogon family, which can be very difficult to capture on camera.

The reason for the currency being thus named is that quetzal tail feathers were used for trading purposes in the early Mayan culture. See PGH's journal again for brilliantly photographed quetzal tail feathers!

Straight lines and dots are used in a graphic on each note to show how its value would be represented in the Mayan numerical system.

On the reverse of the 50 quetzal note there is a picture of coffee harvesting, highlighting the importance of that crop to the country's economy.