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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 United States dollar (USD) or the euro (EUR). Sub-units are 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.
Current least valued currency units
As of September 22, 2008, there were 26 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, while the Somali shilling and Vietnamese dong would rank differently. The North Korean won is believed to be worth about 2,500 to the US dollar [1] as of June 2008, the Myanmar kyat is worth about 1,150 to the US dollar [2] as of June 2008, the Somali shilling approximately 34,000 to the US dollar [3] as of May 2008, and the Vietnamese dong about 18,500 to the US dollar [4] as of June 2008.
- As of April 2008, a "commercial rate" separate from the official exchange rate exists in Turkmenistan available only within its borders at 17,600 manats for the sale of US dollars and 17,430 manats for the purchase of US dollars by the central bank. [5]
- Somaliland, not widely recognised as an independent sovereign state, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling. The Somaliland Central Bank currently has no official exchange rate. Unofficial exchange rates have fluctuated between 5,750 and 6,250 shillings per dollar since late 2004 with the rate approximately at 6,000 shillings to the US dollar as of June 2008 7.
- The Zimbabwean dollar had 10 zeros cut off on 1 August 2008. Therefore, the exchange rate of Z$70 billion (Z$750 billion parallel rate) was cut to Z$7 (Z$75 parallel rate).
| No. |
State |
Currency |
Abbr |
1 United States Dollar =
(as of September 21, 2008) |
1 Euro =
(as of September 21, 2008) |
Highest valued coin
(if any) |
Highest valued banknote |
Notes |
| 1. |
 Zimbabwe |
dollar |
ZWD |
1,715,117.70 |
2,312,561.93 |
25 (0.001¢) |
20,000 (1.2¢) |
Offical rate: 1USD = 167.68 ZWD RBZ |
| 2. |
 Somalia |
shilling |
SOS |
34,000 |
49,000 |
None in use |
1,000 (3.0¢) |
Mid Market rate: 1USD = 1,418.41 SOS |
| 3. |
 Vietnam |
đồng |
VND |
18,000 |
26,000 |
5,000 (27.7¢) |
500,000 ($27.77) |
Mid Market rate: 1USD = 16,503.5 VND |
| 4. |
 Turkmenistan |
manat +[6] |
TMM |
17,430 |
25,060 |
1,000 (5.7¢) |
10,000 (57.4¢) |
Mid Market rate: 1USD = 5,200.05 TMM |
| 5. |
 São Tomé and Príncipe |
dobra |
STD |
14,385 |
20,736.63 |
2,000 (13.9¢) |
50,000 ($3.48) |
|
| 6. |
 Iran |
rial +[7] |
IRR |
9,703 |
13,987.31 |
500 (5.2¢) |
50,000 (legal tender; $5.15)
5,000,000 ("cash cheque"; $515.30) |
|
| 7. |
 Indonesia |
rupiah |
IDR |
9,394.40 |
13,542.45 |
1,000 (10.6¢, uncommon)
500 (5.3¢, common) |
100,000 ($10.67) |
|
| 8. |
 Laos |
kip |
LAK |
8,579.50 |
12,367.74 |
None in use |
50,000 ($5.83) |
|
| 9. |
 Guinea |
franc |
GNF |
4,691.85 |
6,763.51 |
None in use |
10,000 ($2.13) |
|
| 10. |
 Cambodia |
riel |
KHR |
4,075.15 |
5,874.51 |
None in use |
100,000 ($24.54) |
|
| 11. |
 Paraguay |
guaraní |
PYG |
3,961.65 |
5,710.90 |
1,000 (25.2¢) |
100,000 ($25.24) |
|
| 12. |
 Zambia |
kwacha |
ZMK |
3,590 |
5,175.15 |
None in use |
50,000 ($13.93) |
|
| 13. |
 Sierra Leone |
leone |
SLL |
2,947.50 |
4,248.95 |
500 (17.0¢, uncommon)
100 (3.4¢) |
10,000 ($3.39) |
|
| 14. |
 North Korea |
won |
KPW |
2,500.00 |
3,369.95 |
100 (4.0¢) |
5,000 ($2.00) |
Mid Market rate: 1USD = 142.45 KRW |
| 15. |
 Belarus |
ruble |
BYR |
2,083.87 |
3,004 |
None in use |
100,000 ($47.99) |
|
| 16. |
 Colombia |
peso + |
COP |
2,054.10 |
2,961.08 |
500 (24.3¢) |
50,000 ($24.34) |
|
| 17. |
 Uganda |
shilling |
UGX |
1,647 |
2,374.23 |
500 (30.4¢) |
50,000 ($30.36) |
|
| 18. |
 Madagascar |
ariary |
MGA |
1,623.15 |
2,339.84 |
50 (3.1¢) |
10,000 ($6.07) |
|
| 19. |
 Lebanon |
pound |
LBP |
1,504.50 |
2,168.80 |
500 (33.2¢) |
100,000 ($66.47) |
|
| 20. |
 Uzbekistan |
som |
UZS |
1,308.76 |
1,886.64 |
100 (7.6¢) |
1,000 (76.4¢) |
|
| 21. |
 Myanmar |
kyat |
MMK |
1,275 |
1,868.70 |
100 (7.8¢) |
1,000 (78.4¢) |
Mid Market rate: 1USD = 6.4198 MMK |
| 22. |
 Iraq |
dinar |
IQD |
1,180.60 |
1,701.89 |
100 (8.5¢) |
25,000 ($21.18) |
|
| 23. |
 Tanzania |
shilling |
TZS |
1,164.50 |
1,678.68 |
200 (17.2¢) |
10,000 ($8.59) |
|
| 24. |
 Burundi |
franc |
BIF |
1,150 |
1,657.78 |
None in use |
10,000 ($8.70) |
|
| 25. |
 Mongolia |
tögrög |
MNT |
1,149.50 |
1,657.06 |
500 (43.5¢) |
20,000 ($17.40) |
|
| 26. |
 South Korea |
won ‡ |
KRW |
1,125.35 |
1,622.24 |
500 (44.4¢) |
10,000 ($8.89) |
|
| USD |
 United States |
dollar |
USD |
1.00 |
1.4416 |
1 (€0.69, uncommon)
.25 (€0.17, common) |
100 (€69.37) |
|
| EUR |
 European Union |
euro |
EUR |
0.6937 |
1.00 |
2 ($2.88) |
500 ($720.77) |
|
| Data for all other currencies taken from Xe.com
Data for Zimbabwe Dollar taken from OMIR
Data for Myanma kyat taken from The Irrawaddy News Magazine
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- Notes
- + – Redenomination is currently being considered.
- ‡ – The least valued currency of any OECD member state
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 |
31 Jul 2008 |
Zimbabwe |
Revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
250 - 69,484,070,056 (official)
20,000 - 751,089,467,956 (parallel) |
Changed daily due to hyperinflation.
Redenominated currency 1 Aug 2008: 10,000,000,000 old Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) -> 1 revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
| 1 Aug 2008 |
10 Sep 2008 |
Vietnam |
Vietnamese đồng (VND) |
16,432 |
Zimbabwean dollar redenominated. Vietnamese đồng (VND) is the least valued currency unit once again. |
| 11 Sep 2008 |
15 Sep 2008 |
Zimbabwe |
Third Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
18,888.01- 25,383.96 |
Changed daily due to hyperinflation. |
| 16 Sep 2008 |
16 Sep 2008 |
Vietnam |
Vietnamese đồng (VND) |
16,432 |
Zimbabwean dollar slightly rose in value. |
| 17 Sep 2008 |
Present |
Zimbabwe |
Third Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
22,837.27- 1,715,117.70 |
Changed daily due to hyperinflation. |
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.
See also
References
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