The official currency of Mexico is the Mexican Peso. Each peso, represented by the “$” symbol is worth 100 centavos, with the centavos being represented by the symbol "¢". Mexican peso coins are round and the 1, 2 and 5 coins have a golden/bronze center circle with a picture of the Mexican Coat of Arms (Eagle) in the middle with the outside surrounding being of silver color. (The larger coins look somewhat like the Canadian loonie).
For easy calculation to know how much you are spending, just imagine every dollar to be worth $10 pesos (so a $200 peso item will cost you approximately $20 dollars).
Universal Currency Converter - http://www.xe.com/.
Mexican coins can be found in denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent (centavo) pieces. The larger peso coins are worth 1, 5, 10 and 20 pesos. The size of the peso coins reflects its hierarchy of value.The Mexican peso bills are printed in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 notes. I will caution you that it may be difficult to change the $500 and $1000 peso notes. Always carry small bills and change with you. It is much easier on the small tiendas. When you give them big bills, it takes all their cash (and maybe some of the next store’s) to give you change. Try and get your bigger bills cashed at the bigger stores or banks and have small change on hand for the local tiendas, street vendors, buses and taxis.The bills are in different colors and easy to differentiate.In most stores, you will find prices in pesos. However, be careful if you are in the cities and especially the touristy areas on the coast – occasionally they price in U.S. dollars.