Vietnamese đồng

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vietnamese đồng
đồng Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
Obverse of 500,000₫ Steel plated with nickel 500₫
Obverse of 500,000₫ Steel plated with nickel 500₫
ISO 4217 Code VND
User(s) Vietnam
Inflation 7.5%
Source The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/10 hào
1/100 xu
Symbol
Coins 200₫, 500₫, 1000₫, 2000₫, 5000₫
Banknotes 100₫, 200₫, 500₫, 1000₫, 2000₫, 5000₫, (these first six are old issue) 10 000₫, 20 000₫, 50 000₫, 100 000₫, 200 000₫, 500 000₫
Central bank State Bank of Vietnam
Website www.sbv.gov.vn

The đồng (VND, IPA: dɔŋ) is the currency of Vietnam. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. It has the symbol ₫. In the past, it was subdivided into 10 hào, each divided into 10 xu (derived from the French sou). However, the hào and xu are now so worthless that they are no longer issued.

Contents

[edit] History

In Vietnamese, đồng literally means copper or bronze. This originates from the practice of minting coins from copper before French colonization. When Vietnam was part of French Indochina, the standard unit of currency was the French Indochinese piastre. The Vietnamese text on these currencies called it đồng or less commonly bạc ("silver"). After the French left, North and South Vietnam each minted its own separate currency, both named đồng.

[edit] North Vietnam

The first đồng issued in North Vietnam appeared in 1946 and replaced the piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1958. The first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1000:1.

[edit] South Vietnam

The first đồng issued in South Vietnam appeared in 1952 and also replaced the piastre at par. On September 2, 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to the "liberation" đồng worth 500 South Vietnamese đồng.

[edit] United Vietnam

After the nation was reunified, the đồng was also unified on May 3, 1978. The northern đồng could be exchanged for the new đồng at a 1:1 rate, while the southern "liberation" đồng could be exchanged for only 8 hào.

On September 4, 1985, the đồng was further revalued, with the new đồng worth 10 old đồng.

[edit] Coins

Highest circulating coin issued in 2003
Highest circulating coin issued in 2003

Due to chronic inflation, there have been no coins for a long time. The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on 17 December 2003 [1]. Before that, Vietnamese had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. Many resident expressed excitement of seeing coins for many years, as well as concern for the usefulness of the 200₫ coins [2].

2003 Series [1]
Value Technical parameters Description Date of
Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Obverse Reverse first minting issue
200₫ 20 mm 1.45 mm 3.2 g Steel plated with nickel Coat of arms National designs 2003 17 December 2003
500₫ 22 mm 1.75 mm 4.5 g Steel plated with nickel National designs 1 April 2004
1,000₫ 19 mm 1.95 mm 3.8 g Steel plated with a copper-zinc alloy Coat of arms Water Temple, Đô Temple 2003 17 December 2003
2,000₫ 23.5 mm 1.8 mm 5.1 g Steel plated with a copper-zinc alloy Ethnic house 1 April 2004
5,000₫ 25.5 mm 2.2 mm 7.7 g Copper alloy (CuAl6Ni92)[citation needed] Chùa Một Cột (One Pillar Pagoda) 17 December 2003
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

[edit] Banknotes

After the 1985 redenomination, there have been 5 banknote series. Except the current 2003 series, all previous series were rather confusing and did not have a unified design theme. The first table below shows the latest banknotes prior to the 2003 series, 100₫ or higher.

Since 2003, Vietnam had replaced its paper currency with plastic polymer banknotes, which it claims will save money[3]. Many newspapers in the country had criticized these changes, citing mistakes in printing and alleging that the son of the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam benefited from printing contracts[3]. The government had clamped down on these criticisms by banning two newspapers from publishing for a month and considering other sanctions on other newspapers.

Pre-2003 Banknotes in Circulation[1]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue
100₫1 120 × 59 mm Brown on green background National designs Phổ Minh Pagoda 1991 2 May 1992
200₫ 130 × 65 mm Orange Ho Chi Minh Agricultural production 1987 30 September 1987
500₫ 130 × 65 mm Pink Ho Chi Minh Port Haiphong 1988 15 August 1989
1,000₫ 134 × 65 mm Multicolor on lime background Ho Chi Minh Lumber productions 1988 20 October 1989
2,000₫ 134 × 65 mm Multicolor Ho Chi Minh Textile factory 1988 20 October 1989
5,000₫ 134 × 65 mm Blue Ho Chi Minh Trị An hydropower plant 1991 15 January 1993
10,000₫ 140 × 68 mm Red Ho Chi Minh Halong Bay 1993 15 October 1994
20,000₫ 140 × 68 mm Blue Ho Chi Minh Canned food factory 1991 2 March 1993
50,000₫ 140 × 68 mm Green Ho Chi Minh Nhà Rồng Port 1994 15 October 1994
100,000₫ 145 × 71 mm Brown Ho Chi Minh Uncle Ho's ethnic house 1994 1 September 2000
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Remarks

  1. Not used
2003 Polymer Series[1][4]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue
10,000₫ 132 × 60mm Dark brown on greenish yellow Ho Chi Minh Offshore platform 30 August 2006
20,000₫ 136 × 65 mm Blue Ho Chi Minh Japanese bridge in Hoi An First 2 digits of serial 17 May 2006
50,000₫ 140 × 65 mm Pink Ho Chi Minh Huế 17 December 2003
100,000₫ 144 × 65 mm Yellowish green Ho Chi Minh Temple of Literature 1 September 2004
200,000₫ 148 × 65mm Brownish-red Ho Chi Minh Halong Bay 30 August 2006
500,000₫ 152 × 65 mm Cyan-Green Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh's birthplace in Kim Liên First 2 digits of serial 17 December 2003
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

A commemorative 50₫ banknote of polymer was issued in 2001, however, its face value is so minimal it is meant only for collectors.

[edit] Other uses of đồng

In the Vietnamese language, đồng can be used as a generic term for any currency by adding the country name as a qualifier. This practice is more common for more esoteric units of currency. In some overseas Vietnamese-speaking communities, notably Vietnamese Americans, it is used to denote the local currency (USD) and one must refer to VND as đồng Việt Nam (Vietnamese đồng). Similarly, hào and xu are occasionally used to translate U.S. "dime" and "cent" respectively into Vietnamese.

In modern-day Vietnam, because of the value of the currency is so small, one đồng could also be understood as one thousand đồng.

Current VND exchange rates
Use Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
Use XE.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
Use OANDA.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

After the revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar on 1 August 2006 [1], the đồng became the least valued currency unit. Around March 21, 2007, the revalued Zimbabwean dollar regained least valued currency status (in terms of black market exchange rate, if exists), and the đồng is currently the 2nd least valued currency unit.

[edit] References