Currencies of the World


Afghani
The afghani is the currency of
Afghanistan.

Asper
The asper was a small Turkish
coin in use around 1900. There were 120 asper to one piastre.

Austral
The austral is the currency of
Argentina.

Baht
The baht is the currency of
Thailand.

Balboa
The balboa is the currency of
Panama.

Bolivar
The bolivar is the currency of
Venezuela.

Boliviano
The Boliviano was the currency of
Bolivia until 1963 when it was replaced by the Peso.

Carolus
The Carolus was a Chinese
silver dollar.

Circular Note
A circular note was a note issued by
banks for the use of travellers which could be cashed at the offices or the correspondents of the bank. They were accompanied by a letter of indication which gave a specimen of the holder's signature and the numbers of the notes. A circular note could not be cashed without the letter of indication, offering some security in case the circular notes were lost.

Colon
The Colon is the unit of currency in
Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Compensated Dollar
The Compensated
Dollar was a system of managed currency, put forward in America by Professor Irving Fisher, by which the gold value of the dollar would be varied to keep its purchasing power constant.

Cordoba
The cordoba is the currency of
Nicaragua.

Crore
A crore (karor in
Hindu) is 100 lakhs, ie 10 million rupees.

Crown
The Crown is the unit of currency in
Czechoslovakia. The English crown was worth the 5 shillings, and was first struck in gold by Henry VIII.

Cruzeiro
The Cruzeiro is the currency of
Brazil.

Currency Note
Currency Notes were notes issued by the British treasury in 1914 for 1
pound and 10 shillings. The notes continued in circulation, taking the place of gold sovereigns and half sovereigns until 1928 when they were withdrawn from circulation and replaced with new Bank of England notes of the same denominations.

Dalasi
The dalasi is the currency of
Gambia.

Daric
The daric was an ancient Persian
gold coin of Darius bearing on one side the figure of an archer.

Denarius
The denarius was an ancient
Roman silver coin valued at 10 asses.

Dime
A dime is small
silver coin valued at 10 cents and used in the USA. Dime means a tenth part, and ten cents is one tenth of a dollar.

Dinar
The dinar is the currency of
Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Yugolsavia and South Yemen.

Dirham
The dirham is the currency of
Morocco.

Dollar
The dollar is the currency of
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Ethiopia, Fiji, Jamaica, USA.

Dong
The dong is the currency of
Vietnam.

Doubloon
A doubloon was a Spanish
coin in use until the 18th century.

Drachma
The drachma is the currency of
Greece.

Dragon
The Dragon was a Chinese
silver dollar.

Ducat
The ducat was a
coin, usually of gold, used at various times in different European countries. The first ducat was struck by Roger II of Sicily.

Escudo
The escudo is the currency of
Portugal and Angola. Until 1975 the escudo was the currency in Chile.

Farthing
The farthing was an
English coin. It was one quarter of a penny. It was a silver coin from the reign of Edward I to that of Mary, no farthings being issued during the reign of Elizabeth I. The copper farthing was introduced by James I in 1613, and the bronze farthing in 1860. Between 1842 and 1869 half-fathings were also coined.

Florin
The florin was an
English 2 shilling coin first issued in 1849. It went out of production with the adoption of decimal currency.

Forint
The forint is the currency of
hungary.

Franc
The franc is the principle monetary unit of
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Burundi, Cameroon, Rwanda and some other countries. The first French franc was struck, in gold, in 1360 and bore an impression of John II on horseback.

George-noble
The George-noble was a British
gold coin minted during the reign of Henry VIII and valued at six shillings and eight pence. It was called the George-noble because on the reverse was a picture of St. George slaying a dragon.

Gerah
The gerah was an ancient
Jewish monetary unit. It was one twentieth of a shekel.

Gourde
The gourde is the currency of
Haiti.

Groat
A groat was an
English 4 pence coin. The last was struck in 1888.

Groschen
Groschen was the currency of
Germany untill 1872. The first groschen were struck in Treves in 1104. In 1525 the groschen was divided into twelve pfennige.

Guarani
The guarani is the currency of
Paraguay.

Guilder
The guilder is the currency of the
Netherlands.

Guinea
The Guinea was an
English gold coin worth 21 shillings. Guineas were first minted in 1663. The value varied between 20 and 30 shillings until it was fixed at 21 shillings in 1717. It was withdrawn from circulation in 1817, but the term continued to be used for 21 shillings.

Gulden
The Gulden was a
silver coin of Austria, Hungary and Holland.

Inti
The inti is the currency of
Peru.

Karor
see "
Crore"

Krona
The krona is the currency of
Iceland and Sweden.

Krone
The krone is the currency of
Denmark and Norway.

Kwacha
The kwacha is the currency of
Zambia and Malawi. In Malawi the kwacha (dawn) is the unit of currency in Malawi. So named because 100 tambala (cockerel) equal one Kwacha - 100 cockerels herald the dawn.

Kyat
The kyat is the currency of
Burma.

Lek
The lek is the currency of
Albania.

Leu
The leu is the currency of
Romania.

Lev
The lev is the currency of
Bulgaria.

Lira
The lira is the currency of
Italy and Turkey.

Mark
The mark is the currency of
Germany.

Markka
The markka is the currency of
Finland.

Maundy
Royal maundy was silver coins struck and distributed to the value of and to as many old persons as the monarch's age in Britain.

Milreis
The milreis was the currency of
Portugal until 1911, and of Brazil until 1942.

Mina
The mina was an ancient
Jewish monetary unit comprised of 50 shekels.

Mohur
The mohur was an Indian
gold coin valued at 15 rupees.

Moidore
The moidore was a Portugese
gold coin used from 1690 until 1722.

Naira
The naira is the currency of
Nigeria.

Paisas
The Paisas is the currency of
Bangladesh. There are 100 Paisas to 1 Taka.

Peseta
The peseta is the currency of
Spain and Equatorial Guinea. In Spain 1 peseta = 100 centimos.

Peso
The peso is the currency of
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Philippines and Uruguay.

Pound
The pound is the currency of
Egypt, Lebanon and the United Kingdom.

Quetzal
The quetzal is the currency of
Guatemala.

Rand
The rand is the currency of
South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana.

Renminbi
The renminbi is the currency of
China.

Rial
The rial is the currency of
Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Riel
The Riel is the currency of
Cambodia.

Ringgit
The ringgit is the currency of
Malaysia.

Rouble
The rouble is the currency of
Russia.

Rupee
The rupee is the currency of
India and Pakistan. The name derives from the Sanskrit word for silver, rupya.

Rupiah
The rupiah is the currency of
Indonesia.

Schilling
The schilling is the currency of
Austria.

Shekel
The shekel is the currency of
Israel which derived from the Hebrew standard of weight for valuing metal. The original shekels were uncoined ingots of 210 (light shekel) and 420 (heavy shekel) grains of silver. They were firsted coined by Simon the Hasmonean around 139 BC.

Shilling
The shilling is the currency of
Kenya. English Shillings were first struck in 1504 of 925 silver. In 1919 the English shilling was reduced to silver of a 500 fineness and during the 1930s they ceased to be made of silver at all.

Stotinki
The stotinki is a unit of cuurency used in
Bulgaria. 100 stotinki comprise 1 lev.

Sucre
The sucre is the currency of
Ecuador.

Tael
The tael was a Chinese weight unit of account. A tael of
silver was made the standard monetary unit, nominally equivalent to 1000 copper cash. The tael was never used as an actual coin, but rather to weigh silver ingots.

Taka
The Taka is a unit of currency used in
Bangladesh. There are 100 Paisas in one 1 Taka.

Talent
A talent was an ancient
Jewish monetary unit comprised of 3000 shekels. In ancient Greece, the talent was a unit of currency equivalent to 600 drachma.

Tambala
The Tambala (cockerel) is a unit of currency in
Malawi. 100 tambala equal one Kwacha.

Tetradrachmon
The tetradrachmon was an ancient
Greek coin equal to 4 drachma.

Thaler
The thaler was once the currency of
Germany. From the name thaler derives the word dollar.

Thatcher
Thatcher is the nick-name given to the British one
pound coin, because "it's thick brassy and thinks its a sovereign".

Wampum
Wampum were
shell beads used by some North American Indians as currency.

Won
The won is the currency unit of
South Korea.

Yen
The yen is the currency of
Japan.

Yuan
The Yuan is the
basic monetary unit in China.

Zloty
The Zloty is the currency of
Poland.