Currencies A-Z

The Russian ruble is one of the oldest national currencies in the world, having been in continuous use since the 13th Century. In fact, only the British pound sterling has been in existence for longer. It was also ther very first decimal currency, having undergone decimalisation in 1704, a mere 267 years before the pound.

Bitcoin is a crypto currency, held only in digital form. It is not centrally controlled like conventional currencies, which are usually issued by a national government (the Euro is an obvious exception) and regulated by government authorised central banks. Instead, bitcoins are issued and stored via a peer to peer, open source network.

The lats was the official currency of the Republic of Latvia. Confusingly for English speaker, the “lats” is actually singular (not lat), and the plural is “lati” (for more than two and up to nine) and “latu” (ten or more).

The New Zealand dollar is the official currency of New Zealand. It was introduced in 1967, replacing the New Zealand pound. It is also informally known as the kiwi, the indigenous bird for which the country is famous, and which is also featured on the New Zealand $1 coin.

The Thai baht is the official currency of the South East Asian Kingdom of Thailand. Like the British pound, its original value was determined by its equivalence to a standard weight of a precious metal. The British pound was valued at 1 pound (lb) of silver, whereas the baht was valued at a much lower … Read more

The Taiwanese dollar is the official currency Taiwan. The history and recent political status of the Taiwan is tied up with the complicated simultaneous conflict between the Chinese Government and the Japanese over its ownership, together with its internal struggle for control over power with the communist forces of Mao Tse-tung’s revolutionary communist forces.

The Swiss franc is the official currency of Switzerland. The Swiss franc as we know it originates from the mid-19th Century. Before this, each of the many independent cantons which made up the geographical area we now know as Switzerland minted their own coins. To add to the confusion, foreign currency was also routinely acceptable … Read more

The krona (SEK) is the official currency of Sweden. The English translation for krona is “crown”, and the plural form is kronor. Sweden is a Scandinavian country situated in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Norway and Finland, and has a long coastline on the Baltic Sea. It has no land border with the … Read more

The Hong Kong dollar (HKD) is the official currency of the city state of Hong Kong. Given its tiny size, it is a testament to its economic power that it remains only just outside the top ten of the world’s traded currencies.

The krona (ISK) is the official currency of Iceland (plural “kronur”). Iceland is a small volcanic island situated in the North Atlantic, between Norway and Canada, lying just below the Arctic Circle. With a population of well under half a million, this Nordic country is fiercely independent, remembered in the United Kingdom for having taken … Read more

The rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. India has a population of over 1.2 billion people, second only to China. India was a seat of ancient civilisations, and was already a prosperous sub-continent by the time of the 18th century, with its considerable commercial wealth based on trade within its vast … Read more

The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency on the world’s foreign exchange markets. It is also widely used by governments across the world as a reserve currency, where it is fourth most popular, behind the US dollar, the euro and the British pound.

The ringgit is the official currency of the South East Asian country of Malaysia. Malaysia is a nation whose territory is split into two: one part on the Malaysian peninsular (which also contains Singapore), with the other covering the northern section of the island of Borneo, which is situated on the opposite side of the … Read more

The peso (MXN) is the official currency of Mexico. Mexico is a North and Central American country, with the US states of Texas and California on its northern border, and the Central American states of Guatemala and Belize to its south.

The krone (NOK) is the official currency of the Scandinavian country of Norway. The English translation for the word “krone” is “crown”, and the plural for krone is kroner. Norway has a total population of around 5 million, and shares land borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Its northern mainland lies above the Arctic circle, … Read more

The forint (HUF) is the official currency of Hungary. A central European country with no coastline, it shares land borders with Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. It has a beautiful capital city, Budapest, which sits astride the magnificent River Danube. Historically, it was at the centre of the Habsburg Empire of the … Read more

The rand (ZAR) is the official currency of the Republic of South Africa. The recent history of this former colonial country has been marked by political turmoil. This territory, at the very south of the continent was first colonised by traders from the Dutch East India Company. The British took over gradually around the turn … Read more

The Singapore dollar is the official currency of Singapore, the world’s only island city-state. Modern day Singapore was effectively created in the early 19th Century as a trading post for the East India Company. This was a British trading company designed to exploit the commercial advantages provided by the expansion of the British Empire. In … Read more

The leu (RON) is the official currency of Romania. The word leu can be translated into English as “lion”, and the plural form is lei. Romania is located in eastern Europe, with a coastline on the Black Sea and land borders with Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria.

The zloty (PLN) is the official currency of Poland. The name can be roughly translated into English as meaning “golden”. Poland is an East European country, with a northern coastline on the Baltic Sea. Its recent history has involved being at the centre of European conflict and politics, certainly since the 1930s.

The renminbi (RMB) is the official currency of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese currency has historically and internationally often been referred to as the “yuan” and this is still sometimes the case. Translations into English always face the problems involved in the incompatibilities involved in converting a pictorial language such as Chinese and … Read more

As so many online casinos attract players from around the world, so the number of currencies accepted continues to rise. Most of the big name gaming industry giants have offices and outposts based around the world. The only continent without a gaming industry is Antarctica (as far as I know) and this icy wilderness doesn’t … Read more

Australians are renowned for being an adventurous lot. When they are not busy mocking the lily-livered Poms from the old country about their poor cricket skills, they are to be found exploring the interminable interior of their own continent, or travelling the world exporting their positive attitude and sunny disposition. Let’s face it, there isn’t … Read more

The real is the official currency of Brazil. The currency’s symbol is similar to the traditional “dollar” sign ($), but has two strokes instead of one. Sadly, I was unable to find an example of this in Microsoft Word, so you will just have to imagine it. Brazil is one of the many countries across … Read more

The lev is the official currency of Bulgaria. The word “lev” can be roughly translated in to English as “lion”, from the original archaic Bulgarian. The history of the currency has closely followed the history of the nation itself, with the lev being linked to whichever European neighbour had the most influence at the time.

The Canadian Dollar is the official currency of North America’s largest country. It is often affectionately known as the “loonie” by foreign exchange traders and indeed many Canadians themselves, on account of the image of a common loon (a popular choice to be the national bird of Canada) which is present on the one dollar … Read more

The Koruna is the official currency of the Czech Republic. The word “koruna”, when translated into English, means “crown”, so the currency is sometimes referred to in English speaking nations as the Czech crown.

The krone is the official currency of Denmark and its dependent territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The krone, when translated into English, means “crown”, so the currency is sometimes therefore referred to as the Danish Crown in English speaking nations. The value of the krone is pegged to that of the euro via … Read more

The US dollar is the official currency of the United States of America. It is by far the world’s most used currency for international trade and most of the world’s major commodities, such as oil, are priced in US dollars. It also functions as the world’s primary reserve currency, held by foreign governments as an … Read more

The euro (€) is the official unit of currency of the European Economic Area (EU). At the time of writing (2016), 19 of the 28 member states of the European member states use the euro as their official currency. Countries remaining outside the Eurozone, and continuing to use their own currencies include the United Kingdom … Read more

The pound is the name given to the official currency (or unit of currency) used by several nations across the world. The British pound (commonly referred to as the pound sterling) is perhaps the best known, and certainly the most widely traded. Among the other countries which also still use the term are Egypt, Lebanon … Read more