On a recent trip home to visit the states a few people asked me about what currency is used in Panama. The concept of Panamanian currency is simple yet a little confusing. The official currency in the Republic of Panama is actually the Balboa. But don’t start panicking yet. The Balboa and U.S. dollar are virtually the same thing and work equally in Panama. There are no Balboa paper notes as with the dollar (at least none that I have ever seen) and the coins or 
cents are known as “centavos”. If the price of something in Panama is listed with a B. before, such as B.25, then the price would be $25 U.S. dollars. Panamanian coinage is represented exactly as we do in the U.S. beginning with the 1cent piece (centavo) , the equivelant of a nickel, dime, quarter, and going upward to the 50 centavo or “medio balboa”, then the full dollar or “un balboa”.
Nonetheless, you must remember that all U.S. currency is accepted in Panama wherever you go. Panamanian and U.S. currency is also the same exact size, shape and metal which means they will both work in any coin, payphone or vending machine in the States or Panama. However, I recommend exchanging Balboa for dollars before reentering the U.S. So, when asking what currency is used in Panama the answer is pretty interesting. The U.S. dollar or the Balboa will do the trick. It’s really up to the spender.
Hi,
I read recently that Panama will dramatically increase the number of coins in circulation as the coins are the only ‘real’ Panamanian currency, posssibly a move away from the Dollar, I own http://www.bambuhostel.com in David Panama a backpackers resort, and when i go home to NY with a pocket of coins i always forget and get strange looks when I try to pay with it!
Actually this article is sort of inaccurate. Panama’s currency IS the dollar (the country has been “dollarized” ever since its independence from Colombia); just that they call it/just that their official name for it is “the ‘balboa’” instead of the “dollar” (why “Balboa”? because of conquistador Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who first sighted the South Sea (known as the Pacific Ocean, after Magellan changed the name to “the Pacific Ocean” after crossing the Strait of Magellan near the southern tip of South America and later finding an ocean that he considered “quite peaceful”. “Pacifico” means “peaceful” and/or “pacifist” is another equivalent of the word).
Also, I just went to a bank here in Panama to exchange my coins back to U.S. currency before going on a trip to the States, and all the bank tellers said “we don’t have any U.S. coins”, even though, ironically, when I go to the bank to cash a check, and if I’m ever given any change, alot of U.S. pennies, dimes, quarters, and nickels are among the change. It’s like (although this can be the only conclusion) Panamanian bank-tellers aren’t even TRAINED to know which is the “Balboa” coins and which are the “U.S. Dollar” coins! O_O
this was something BASIC i learned in school back in the DODDS (Department of Defense Dependent Schools) back when i lived in the old Panama Canal Zone! O_O
(shows you how “well” “educated” Panamanians with-college-degrees (including [college degrees] in “Banking”) are, huh?)
i had to ask the bank teller to show me several quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies (something which she said is against common practice in banks, and is not really allowed) so i can pick out the ones that were American currency (ie. “U.S. Dollar” coinage) from the ones that were Panamanian currency (ie. “Balboa” coinage).
and, despite this article saying “Panamanian coinage is represented exactly as we do in the U.S. beginning with the 1cent piece (centavo) , the equivelant of a nickel, dime, quarter, and going upward to the 50 centavo or “medio balboa”, then the full dollar or “un balboa”.” (which is not uncommon), you will rather find much more common that people say “un dolar, dos dolares, tres dolares” instead of “un balboa, dos balboas, tres balboas” partially because of the fact that Panama has been “Americanized” (including Panama’s Spanish) [language]. eg. “maus”, pronounced “mah-oos” (like, when you pronounce the “Ma” in “Ma Bell”, referring to the nickname for the well-known [old] U.S. phone-company), for the computer-peripheral “mouse”. instead of “raton” (with the accent on the ‘O’), the Spanish word for “mouse”).
when you’re in a store and you ask a vendor/salesman/saleswoman how much something costs, they’ll usually say “# dolares” instead of “# balboas”.
in a nutshell, Panama’s currency IS the dollar. except, that Panama also has its own coinage called the “Balboa”, but it’s the same size, currency/dollar-equivalent (ie. a Panamanian penny is worth as much as a U.S. penny, a Panamanian dime, nickel, and quarter are worth the same much as a U.S. dime, nickel, and quarter, respectively, etc), and they are made by the same manufacturer (ie. the U.S. Federal Mint. bet you didn’t know that little piece of information, did ya?)
what is the equivilant of 1 dollard american of a dollard balboa
es super interesante la moneda de panama waoooooooooo