Least valued currency unit
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The least valued currency unit is the currency in which a single unit buys the least number of any given other currency or the smallest amount of a given good. Most commonly, the calculation is made against a major reserve currency such as the euro (EUR) or the United States dollar (USD). Sub-units are generally not considered when looking for the least valued currency: for example, while a British pound sterling might be considered, a British penny would not be.
Contents |
[edit] Current least valued currency units
As of May 29, 2008, there were 24 currencies for which 1 USD was worth over 1,000 units.
In addition
- If black market rates were used, the North Korean won and Myanmar kyat would be included on the list. The North Korean won is believed to be worth about 2000 to the US dollar and the Myanmar kyat is worth about 1250 to the US dollar.
- Somaliland, not widely recognised as an independent sovereign state, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling. The official exchange rate of the Somaliland Central Bank was 6,000 shillings for 1 US dollar. Unofficial exchange rates fluctuate between 6,000 and 6,500 shillings per dollar.
- Zimbabwean dollar held the first place before its redenomination and devaluation on August 1, 2006. The dollar was redenominated from 1000 old dollars to 1 revalued dollar. In addition, there was a 60% devaluation to the US dollar, from 101,000 ZWD/USD to 250 revalued (250,000 old) ZWD/USD (official rate). [1]
- The Zimbabwean dollar trades for considerably higher on the black market than on the open market, at about 4,373,000,000 to the US dollar as of June 10, 2008 [1]
| No. | State | Currency | Abbr | 1 United States Dollar = (as of June 5, 2008) |
1 Euro = (as of June 5, 2008) |
Highest valued coin (if any) |
Highest valued banknote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Zimbabwe |
revalued dollar + [2] | ZWD | 4,373,000,000 | 6,873,500,000 | None in use | 50 billion Agro Cheque ($11.43) | |
| 2. |  Vietnam |
đồng | VND | 16,225.00 | 25,285.04 | 5,000 (30.8¢) | 500,000 ($30.82) | |
| 3. |  São Tomé and Príncipe |
dobra | STD | 14,258.68 | 22,220.73 | 2,000 (14.0¢) | 50,000 ($3.51) | |
| 4. |  Indonesia |
rupiah | IDR | 9,283.13 | 14,466.83 | 1,000 (10.8¢, uncommon) 500 (5.4¢) |
100,000 ($10.77) | |
| 5. |  Iran |
rial+[3] | IRR | 9,276.13 | 14,455.92 | 500 (5.4¢) | 50,000 (legal tender; $5.39) 5,000,000 ("cash cheque"; $539.02) |
|
| 6. |  Laos |
kip | LAK | 8,581.70 | 13,373.72 | None in use | 50,000 ($5.83) | |
| 7. |  Turkmenistan |
manat | TMM | 5,200.05 | 8,103.76 | 1,000 (19.2¢) | 10,000 ($1.92) | |
| 8. |  Guinea |
franc | GNF | 4,368.85 | 6,808.422 | 50 (1.1¢) | 10,000 ($2.29) | |
| 9. |  Paraguay |
guaraní | PYG | 3,999.00 | 6,232.04 | 1,000 (25.0¢) | 100,000 ($25.01) | |
| 10. |  Cambodia |
riel | KHR | 3,903.90 | 6,083.84 | None in use | 100,000 ($25.62) | |
| 11. |  Zambia |
kwacha | ZMK | 3,310.00 | 5,158.30 | None in use | 50,000 ($15.11) | |
| 12. |  Sierra Leone |
leone | SLL | 2,850.00 | 4,441.44 | 500 (17.5¢, uncommon) 100 (3.5¢) |
10,000 ($3.51) | |
| 13. |  Belarus |
ruble | BYR | 2,108.24 | 3,285.48 | None in use | 100,000 ($47.43) | |
| 14. |  Colombia |
peso + | COP | 1,708.00 | 2,661.75 | 500 (29.3¢) | 50,000 ($29.27) | |
| 15. |  Madagascar |
ariary | MGA | 1,622.00 | 2,513.60 | 50 (3.1¢) | 10,000 ($6.18) | |
| 16. |  Uganda |
shilling | UGX | 1,595.00 | 2,485.65 | 500 (31.3¢) | 50,000 ($31.35) | |
| 17. |  Lebanon |
pound | LBP | 1,512.00 | 2,356.31 | 500 (33.1¢) | 100,000 ($66.14) | |
| 18. |  Somalia |
shilling | SOS | 1,344.00 | 2,088.58 | 100 (7.4¢) | 1,000 (74.4¢) | |
| 19. |  Uzbekistan |
som | UZS | 1,305.02 | 2,094.49 | 50 (3.8¢) | 1,000 (76.6¢) | |
| 20. |  Iraq |
dinar | IQD | 1,197.60 | 1,866.34 | 100 (8.4¢) | 25,000 ($20.88) | |
| 21. |  Tanzania |
shilling | TZS | 1,199.00 | 1,868.52 | 200 (16.7¢) | 10,000 ($8.34) | |
| 22. |  Burundi |
franc | BIF | 1,161.05 | 1,809.38 | 10 (0.9¢) | 10,000 ($8.61) | |
| 23. |  Mongolia |
tögrög | MNT | 1,158.00 | 1,804.63 | 500 (43.2¢) | 20,000 ($17.27) | |
| 24. |  South Korea |
won ‡ | KRW | 1,021.75 | 1,592.30 | 500 (48.9¢) | 10,000 (banknote; $9.79) 100,000 (bank cheque; $97.87) |
|
| Data for Zimbabwean dollar taken from http://www.rbz.co.zw/fca/fca.asp | ||||||||
| Data for all other currencies taken from Xe.com | ||||||||
- Notes
- + – Redenomination is currently being considered.
- ‡ – The least valued currency of any OECD member state
[edit] Historical least valued currencies
| Start Date | Finish Date | Country | Currency Unit | Units per US Dollar | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 1994 | Mid Jan 1994 |  Angola |
Angolan novo kwanza (AON) | 34,200 | - |
| Mid Jan 1994 | 23 Jan 1994 |  Yugoslavia |
Yugoslav "1994 dinar" | Changed daily | new currency 24 Jan 1994: 10~13 million "1994 dinara" -> 1 novi dinar (YUM) (pegged to 1 German mark) |
| 24 Jan 1994 | 30 June 1995 | Angola |
Angolan novo kwanza (AON) | 34,200 - 2,100,000 | new currency 1 July 1995: 1,000 novos kwanzas (AON) -> 1 new kwanza reajustado (AOR) |
| 1 Jul 1995 | 30 Apr 1996 |  Turkey |
Turkish lira (TRL) | 43,100 - 69,200 | - |
| 1 May 1996 | 30 Nov 1999 | Angola |
Angolan kwanza reajustado (AOR) | 150,000 - 5,400,000 | new currency 1 Dec 1999: 1,000,000 kwanzas reajustados (AOR) -> 1 new Angolan kwanza (AOA) |
| 1 Dec 1999 | 31 Dec 2004 | Turkey |
Turkish lira (TRL) | 533,000 - 1,350,000 | new currency 1 Jan 2005: 1,000,000 old Turkish lira (TRL) -> 1 new Turkish lira (TRY) (old lira valid to end of 2005) |
| 1 Jan 2005 | 30 June 2005 |  Romania |
Romanian leu (ROL) | 29,110 - 29,850 | new currency 1 July 2005: 10,000 old Romanian lei (ROL) -> 1 new Romanian leu (RON) (old leu valid to end of 2006) |
| 1 July 2005 | 24 Aug 2005 |  Mozambique |
Mozambican metical (MZM) | 24,400 | new currency 1 July 2006: 1,000 old Mozambique meticais (MZM) -> 1 new Mozambique metical (MZN) (old metical valid to end of 2006) |
| 24 Aug 2005 | 31 Jul 2006 | Zimbabwe |
Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) | 25,000-101,000 (official) 45,000-550,000 (parallel) |
changed daily due to hyperinflation redenominated currency 1 Aug 2006: 1,000 old Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) -> 1 revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
| 1 Aug 2006 | ca. 21 Mar 2007 | Vietnam |
Vietnamese đồng (VND) | 16,000 - 16,736 | - |
| ca. 21 Mar 2007 | ca. 6 Apr 2007 | Zimbabwe |
Revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) | 250 (official) 16,000 - 30,000 (parallel) |
Changed daily due to hyperinflation |
| ca. 6 Apr 2007 | 8 Apr 2007 | Vietnam |
Vietnamese đồng (VND) | 16,022 | Zimbabwean dollar briefly rose in value |
| ca. 8 Apr 2007 | Present | Zimbabwe |
Revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) | 250 - 580,678,132.35 (official) 20,000 - 2,601,000,000 (parallel) (official rate approached parallel rate around May 6, 2008) |
Changes daily due to hyperinflation. Redenomination planned for Dec 2007 was postponed. |
Many currencies are not permitted to float on the foreign exchange market, to prevent capital flight or for political reasons. As a result, the parallel market (black market) price of a currency may deviate substantially from its official value.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Zimbabwe money loses three zeros", BBC News, 2006-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
- ^ Currency currently in Hyperinflation. Rates given are current as of June 10, 2008
- ^ Press TV - New currency requires more planning
