CHAPTER 49 - Maize Money of Guatemala

Abstract

This chapter describes the use of various primitive currencies like maize in Guatemala. Cocoa beans were used both before and after the conquest as a substitute for coin. Other forms of articles of trade that had come to pass commonly as money included maize and coconuts. Some of the primitive currencies continued until recently to play a part in the Guatemalan economic system. The Chorti-speaking Indians used cocoa beans until about the end of the 19th century. To this day maize is extensively used as a medium of exchange. The unit is usually a gourdful weighing about a pound and reckoned as one peso. Indians are always ready to accept maize in payment for anything they have to sell, because it is consumed every day and is easily exchangeable for other things. The maize sellers in the market place usually buy the things they need with the aid of shelled maize without first selling their maize for pesos. In backward parts of Guatemala eggs were recently still used extensively as a medium of exchange, especially in small transactions which constitute the large majority of everyday purchases.