Jordanian dinar

Jordanian dinar
دينار أردني (Arabic)
ISO 4217 code	JOD
Central bank	Central Bank of Jordan
Website	www.cbj.gov.jo
Official user(s)	Jordan
Unofficial user(s)	West Bank (Palestinian territories), alongside Israeli new sheqel
Inflation	1.7%
Source	The World Factbook, 2009 est.
Pegged with	U.S. dollar = 0.709 dinar
Subunit
1⁄10	dirham
1⁄100	qirsh or piastre
1⁄1000	fils
Coins	1⁄2, 1 qirsh, 2 1⁄2, 5, 10 piastres, 1⁄4, 1⁄2, 1 dinar
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 20, 50 dinars

The dinar (Arabic: دينار, ISO 4217 code JOD; unofficially known as JD) is the currency of Jordan. The dinar is divided into 10 dirham, 100 qirsh (also called piastres) or 1000 fulus.

The Jordanian dinar continued to be used in the West Bank along with Israeli currency after Israel took control of it in 1967. During Israel's hyperinflation in the 1970s and 1980s, the Jordanian currency provided stability.

History

From 1927 to 1950, the Palestine Currency Board issued the Palestine pound as the official currency in both Palestine and the Trans-Jordan Emirate. After Jordan became an independent kingdom on 25 May 1946, the idea of issuing a national currency arose and led to the passing of the Provisional Act No. 35 of 1949. Under this Act, the Jordan Currency Board was formed, which became the sole authority entitled to issue Jordanian currency in the kingdom. The London-based entity consisted of a president and four members. As of 1 July 1950, the Jordanian dinar became the kingdom’s official currency, and use of the Palestine pound ceased in the kingdom on 30 September 1950. Although issued by the Jordan Currency Board, the notes bear the name of The Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan.^[1]

Until 1992, coins were denominated in Arabic using fils, qirsh, dirham and dinar but in English only in fils and dinar. Since 1992, the fils and dirham are no longer used in the Arabic denominations and the English denominations are given in dinar and either qirsh or piastres.

For a wider history surrounding currency in the region, see British currency in the Middle East.

Coins

Coins were introduced in 1949 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 fils. The first issue of 1 fils were mistakenly minted with the denomination given as "1 fil". 20 fils coins were minted until 1965, with 25 fils introduced in 1968 and ¹⁄₄ dinar coins in 1970. The 1 fils coin was last minted in 1985. In 1996, smaller ¹⁄₄ dinar coins were introduced alongside ¹⁄₂ and 1 dinar coins.

1. rubia is Arabic for "piece of four" or "quarter"
2. nuus is Arabic for "piece of two" or "half"

Banknotes

In 1949, banknotes were issued by the government in denominations of ¹⁄₂, 1, 5, 10 and 50 dinars. From 1959, the Central Bank of Jordan took over note production. 20 dinar notes were introduced in 1977, followed by 50 dinars in 1999. ¹⁄₂ dinar notes were replaced by coins in 1999.

The Fourth Series of the Central Bank of Jordan[2]
Obverse	Reverse	Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Obverse	Reverse	Printed Date	Issued Date	Watermark
		1 dinar	133 × 74 mm	Lime and green	Sharif Hussein bin Ali	Great Arab Revolt	2002 Hijri 1423	March 30, 2003	Sharif Hussein bin Ali
		5 dinars	137 × 74 mm	Brick orange	Abdullah I bin al-Hussein	Ma’an Palace		December 22, 2002	Abdullah I bin al-Hussein
		10 dinars	141 × 74 mm	Blue	Talal bin Abdullah	First Jordanian Parliament Building			Talal bin Abdullah
		20 dinars	145 × 74 mm	Cyan	Hussein bin Talal	Dome of the Rock		February 2, 2003	Hussein bin Talal
		50 dinars	149 × 74 mm	Pink and brown	King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein	Raghadan Palace			Abdullah II bin al-Hussein

Fixed exchange rate

Since October 23, 1995, the dinar has been officially pegged to the IMF's special drawing rights (SDRs). In practice, it is fixed at 1 U.S. dollar = 0.709 dinar most of the time, which translates to approximately 1 dinar = 1.41044 dollars.^[3][4] The Central Bank buys U.S. dollars at 0.708 dinar, and sell U.S. dollars at 0.710 dinar.^[5]

See also

• Economy of Jordan
• Economy of the Palestinian territories

References

External links

• Coins of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• Banknotes of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan