Highest governing body of the Central Bank of Ecuador, in charge of formulating monetary policy and observing its application by the BCE, to preserve the integrity and sustainability of the dollarization system and of the Ecuadorian financial system.

The axe-money in the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board logo

The axe-money, a symbol used in the logo of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, was a pre-monetary means of payment used in Pre-Columbian America, particularly on the Ecuadorian coast. It is argued that this money system first arose on the coast of Ecuador and northern Peru, at the beginning of the second millennium AD.

Axe-monies were made from natural objects, such as copper. They were given the form of sheets but with raised edges. The great variety of pieces of this type that have been found has led historians to think that an accepted size was most likely imposed as a unit and that the smallest corresponded to multiples and sub-multiples of it. The characteristics of the axe-monies suggest that they were considered objects for commercial exchange.

In Ecuador, axe-monies have been found in the provinces of El Oro, Manabí, Guayas, and Los Ríos, where the Manteño-Huancavilca and Milagro Quevedo cultures were settled (400 to 1500 AD).