The "Balboa" is debuting a new look. It was released along with a campaign to educate the public and is valid for all transactions. The dollar and the balboa are both legal tender currencies in Panama. The Balboa is named after Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean nearly 500 years ago. The Balboa has been equivalent to the US dollar since 1904 and it even circulated as paper money for a breief period in 1941.
