I knew that Panama used US bills for their currency but before I was reading up on the country prior to my trip here I didn't realize that they used their own coins.
When Panama gained independence from Columbia in 1904 they adopted the Panamanian balboa as their currency and tied it to the US dollar at a 1:1 exchange rate. It was named after the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa who led an expedition crossing the Isthmus of Panama making him the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the New World.
The balboa is divided into 100 centésimos and modern coins consist of 1 and 5 centésimos, 1/10, ¼ and ½ balboa coins and the recently introduced 1 and 2 balboa coins. Except for a brief week in 1941, Panama has exclusively used US dollars for their bills. Despite using US bills, it is still called a balboa and the stores mark everything as such using B/ to indicate prices.
While I have been here I have received all of the Panamanian coins except the 2 balboa. I find it really interesting that US coins are also in circulation and they are used interchangeably. Learning new things is always my favorite part of traveling.