Cambodian riel

Cambodian riel
រៀល (Khmer)
ISO 4217 code	KHR
Central bank	National Bank of Cambodia
Website	www.nbc.org.kh
User(s)	Cambodia
Inflation	6.2%
Source	The World Factbook, 2011 est.
Subunit
1/10	kak
1/100	sen
Symbol	៛
Coins	50, 100, 200, 500 riels
Banknotes
Freq. used	100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 riels
Rarely used	50, 100,000 riels

The riel (Khmer: រៀល; sign: ៛; code: KHR) is the currency of Cambodia. There have been two distinct riel, the first issued between 1953 and May 1975. Between 1975 and 1980, the country had no monetary system. A second currency, also named "riel", has been issued since April 1, 1980. However, this currency has never gained much public acceptance, with most Cambodians preferring foreign currency.^[1] The UN peacekeeping operation of 1993 injected a large quantity of U.S. dollars into the local economy. As a result, the dollar has become the country's common currency.^[1] Riel notes are used for fractional dollar amounts as U.S. coins are not in circulation. The symbol is encoded in Unicode at U+17DB ៛ khmer currency symbol riel (HTML: ៛).

First riel, 1953-1975

In 1953, the Cambodia branch of the Institut d'Émission des États du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam issued notes dual denominated in piastre and riel with the riel being at par with the piastre.^[2] At the same time, the two other branches of the Institut had similar arrangements with the đồng in South Vietnam and the kip in Laos. The piastre itself was derived from Spanish pieces of eight (pesos).

The riel was at first subdivided into 100 centimes (abbreviated to cent. on the coins) but this changed in 1959 to 100 sen (សេន). For the first few years, the riel and piastre circulated alongside each other. Indeed, the first riel banknotes were also denominated in piastres.

First Issue 1955-56 - 1 Riel, 5 Riels, 10 Riels, 50 Riels
Second Issue 1956 - 1 Riel, 20 Riels, 50 Riels, 100 Riels, 500 Riels
Third Issue 1963 - 5 Riels, 10 Riels, 100 Riels
Fourth Issue 1972 - 100 Riels[*], 500 Riels, 1000 Riels[*], 5000 Riels[*]^[3]

[*] Unissued

Coins

The 10, 20 and 50 centimes of 1953 and sen coins were minted in aluminium and were the same size as the corresponding att and xu (su) coins of Laos and South Vietnam (though without the holes in the Lao coins). Riel coins available are 50 riels, 100 riels, and 200 riels. A 1 riel coin about the size of a U.S. nickel was to be issued in 1970, as part of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization's coin program, but was not released, perhaps due to the overthrow of the government of Norodom Sihanouk by Lon Nol.^[4]

The Khmer Rouge, 1975-1980

Although the Khmer Rouge printed banknotes these notes were not issued as money was abolished after the Khmer Rouge took control of the country.

Fifth Issue 1975 - 0.1 Riel (1 Kak), 0.5 Riel (5 Kak), 1 Riel, 5 Riels, 10 Riels, 50 Riels, 100 Riels^[3]

Second riel, 1980-

After the Vietnamese invasion in 1978, the riel was re-established as the Cambodian currency on April 1, 1980, initially at a value of 4 riels = 1 U.S. dollar. It is subdivided into 10 kak (កាក់) or 100 sen. Because there was no money for it to replace and a severely disrupted economy, the central government gave away the new money to the populace in order to encourage its use.

In rural areas the riel is used for virtually all purchases, large and small. However, the United States dollar is also used, particularly in urban Cambodia and tourist areas. In Battambang and other areas near the Thai border, like Pailin, the Thai baht is also accepted.

Sixth Issue 1979 - 0.1 Riel (1 Kak), 0.2 Riel (2 Kak), 0.5 Riel (5 Kak), 1 Riel, 5 Riels, 10 Riels, 20 Riels, 50 Riels
Seventh Issue 1987 - 5 Riels, 10 Riels
Eighth Issue 1990-92 - 50 Riels, 100 Riels, 500 Riels
Ninth Issue 1992-93 - 200 Riels, 1,000 Riels[*], 2,000 Riels[*]
Tenth Issue 1995 - 1,000 Riels, 2,000 Riels, 5,000 Riels, 10,000 Riels, 20,000 Riels, 50,000 Riels, 100,000 Riels
Eleventh Issue 1995-99 - 100 Riels, 200 Riels, 500 Riels, 1,000 Riels,
Twelfth Issue 2001-07 - 50 Riels, 100 Riels, 500 Riels, 1,000 Riels, 2,000 Riels, 5,000 Riels, 10,000 Riels, 50,000 Riels
Thirteenth Issue 2008-13 - 1,000 Riels, 2,000 Riels, 20,000 Riels, 100,000 Riels

Current Issued Banknotes
50 Riel - 2002/08/29^[5]
100 Riel - 2001/08/09
500 Riel - 2002/04/04
1,000 Riel - 2006/01/06
2,000 Riel - 2008/01/03
2,000 Riel - 2013/11/09
5,000 Riel - 2001/04/06
10,000 Riel - 2001/04/06
20,000 Riel - 2008/05/12
50,000 Riel - 2001/04/06
100,000 Riel - 2013/05/14^[3]
[*] Unissued

Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	withdrawal	lapse
		50 Riels	130 x 60 mm	Dark Brown and Tan	Prasat Banteay Srei	Dam	2002	August 29, 2002		current
		100 Riels	130 x 60 mm	Purple, Brown, and Green	Independence Monument	School	2001	August 9, 2001		current
		500 Riels	138 x 64 mm	Red and Purple	Angkor Wat	Kampong Cham Bridge over Mekong River	2002	April 4, 2003		current
		1000 Riels	138 x 64 mm	Brown and Lilac	Southern gate at Bayon	Port of Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville)	2005	January 6, 2006		current
		2000 Riels	146 x 68 mm	Green, Black, and Yellow	Prasat Preah Vihear	Angkor Wat and Field Work	2007	January 3, 2008		current
		5000 Riels	146 x 68 mm	Green and Gray	Norodom Sihanouk	Bridge of Kampong Kdei (Siem Reap Province)	2001	April 6, 2001		current
		10,000 Riels	146 x 68 mm	Violet, Brown, and Blue	Norodom Sihanouk	Royal Palace	2001	April 6, 2001		current
		20,000 Riels	155 x 72 mm		Norodom Sihamoni	Angkor Wat, Four faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara	2008	December 5, 2008		current
		50,000 Riels	150 x 70 mm	Violet, Brown, and Blue	Norodom Sihanouk	Angkor Wat	2001	April 6, 2001		current
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter.

Coins

The first coins were 5 sen pieces, minted in 1979 and made of aluminum. No more coins were minted until 1994, when denominations of 50, 100, 200, and 500 riel were introduced. However, these are no longer commonly found in circulation.^[6]

See also

• Cambodian tical
• Cambodian franc
• Economy of Cambodia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Money of Cambodia.

References

External links

• Cambodian Currency Collection - Depicts every banknote issued in Cambodia