<p>I am rewatching The Treasure of the Sierra Madre which is set in Mexico in 1925 and they seem to use the term peso and dollar interchangeably -- for example, the trio of prospectors need another 100 bucks in order to launch their expedition and Dobbs wins 200 pesos in a lottery. Clearly the peso at that time was worth much more than its current value vs the dollar but whether it was worth exactly a dollar I can't find data on for the 1920s.</p>
<p>What I do know is that the peso coin was made of silver (not pure) and I think its total silver content was about half that of a US silver dollar. But I don't know if silver content completely determined the exchange rate. If it did, maybe Dobbs 200 peso prize was just about exactly what they needed.</p>
<p>Dobbs keeps begging peso coins from the man in the white suit and he can, for example, buy a meal and a pack of cigarettes and still have 20 centavos left over (which is how Dobbs bought the 1/20th of a lottery ticket). I know that depression-era prices were ridiculously low and even 50 cents was more than enough for a meal but 1925 was pre-depression.</p>
<p>We also find out that either 2.5 dollars or pesos was not enough to pay for a single bed in a passable hotel although 50 cents (or was it centavos?) was enough for a bed in the hotel Oso Negro which was full of rats, scorpions and cockroaches. During the depression, the Waldorf Astoria was charging 3 bucks a night for a room so again, the prices of the depression are not a guide.</p>
<p>I suspect the film makers did not worry too much about details like exchange rate.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-13T15:22:26.127Z
With the major worldwide shift from a silver or bimetallic standard to a gold standard in the last quarter of the 19th century, Mexico was one of the last: in 1905 it pegged to gold, with 1 peso equivalent to 49 U.S. cents.   This lasted to 1913 during the revolution after which there was a mixed standard, and from 1925 to 1934 a return to the gold standard.
Henry
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-14T09:24:32.960Z
@Henry you should consider expanding it into answer
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-15T08:01:51.373Z
@Henry: i think 49 cents sounds about right since when Dobbs wins 200 pesos this is about enough to get to the 600 bucks they need to begin their expedition -- they were short 100 bucks. The timing in the film is amazing: Dobbs says he can't get another red cent and the very next moment the lottery ticket seller (played by a very young Robert Blake) arrives to tell him that he has won 200 pesos. Of course, strictly speaking they will be a little short of the 600 bucks they calculate they need after Dobbs tips the kid, but close enough, I guess. A movie with more than one coincidence.
releseabe
<exchange-rates>
Value of Mexican Peso vs US Dollar in 1920s -- is silver content complete determiner?
releseabe
# Value of Mexican Peso vs US Dollar in 1920s -- is silver content complete determiner?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-13)

I am rewatching The Treasure of the Sierra Madre which is set in Mexico in 1925 and they seem to use the term peso and dollar interchangeably -- for example, the trio of prospectors need another 100 bucks in order to launch their expedition and Dobbs wins 200 pesos in a lottery. Clearly the peso at that time was worth much more than its current value vs the dollar but whether it was worth exactly a dollar I can't find data on for the 1920s.

What I do know is that the peso coin was made of silver (not pure) and I think its total silver content was about half that of a US silver dollar. But I don't know if silver content completely determined the exchange rate. If it did, maybe Dobbs 200 peso prize was just about exactly what they needed.

Dobbs keeps begging peso coins from the man in the white suit and he can, for example, buy a meal and a pack of cigarettes and still have 20 centavos left over (which is how Dobbs bought the 1/20th of a lottery ticket). I know that depression-era prices were ridiculously low and even 50 cents was more than enough for a meal but 1925 was pre-depression.

We also find out that either 2.5 dollars or pesos was not enough to pay for a single bed in a passable hotel although 50 cents (or was it centavos?) was enough for a bed in the hotel Oso Negro which was full of rats, scorpions and cockroaches. During the depression, the Waldorf Astoria was charging 3 bucks a night for a room so again, the prices of the depression are not a guide.

I suspect the film makers did not worry too much about details like exchange rate.

**Tags:** exchange-rates
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: With the major worldwide shift from a silver or bimetallic standard to a gold standard in the last quarter of the 19th century, Mexico was one of the last: in 1905 it pegged to gold, with 1 peso equivalent to 49 U.S. cents.   This lasted to 1913 during the revolution after which there was a mixed standard, and from 1925 to 1934 a return to the gold standard.  
> **username_2**: @Henry you should consider expanding it into answer  
> **username_0**: @Henry: i think 49 cents sounds about right since when Dobbs wins 200 pesos this is about enough to get to the 600 bucks they need to begin their expedition -- they were short 100 bucks. The timing in the film is amazing: Dobbs says he can't get another red cent and the very next moment the lottery ticket seller (played by a very young Robert Blake) arrives to tell him that he has won 200 pesos. Of course, strictly speaking they will be a little short of the 600 bucks they calculate they need after Dobbs tips the kid, but close enough, I guess. A movie with more than one coincidence.  

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## 0 answers

