[4][5] Currencies in use before the current Peruvian sol include: Due to the bad state of economy and hyperinflation in the late 1980s, the government was forced to abandon the inti and introduce the sol as the country's new currency.

[8][failed verification] Since the new currency was put into effect, it has managed to maintain an exchange rate[9] between S/2.2 and S/4.13 per US dollar.

All coins show the coat of arms of Peru surrounded by the text Banco Central de Reserva del Perú ("Central Reserve Bank of Peru") on the obverse; the reverse of each coin shows its denomination.

Included in the designs of the bimetallic S/2 and S/5 coins are the hummingbird and condor figures from the Nazca Lines.

[12] All notes are of the same size (140 x 65 mm) and contain the portrait of a well-known historic Peruvian on the obverse.