World Currencies: Money Around the World

Bermuda replaced its pound with a decimal dollar system. It is issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Canada moved toward dollars and cents in the nineteenth century, when trade with its southern neighbor made decimal money useful. Its one-dollar coin, introduced in 1987, shows a loon, a water bird. That picture gave the coin its friendly nickname: the loonie.

Peso means weight in Spanish, a reminder that money once depended on the weight of precious metal. Mexican silver coins traveled widely through international trade. In 1993, Mexico introduced a new peso that removed three zeros from amounts written in the old pesos, making everyday arithmetic shorter.

The United States created its national mint in 1792, but the dollar story reaches back to silver coins traded across oceans. Spanish pesos, often called pieces of eight, circulated in early America. A widely accepted explanation traces the dollar sign to handwritten abbreviations for those pesos, rather than to the letters in United States.

Aruba introduced the florin when it gained separate status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is issued by the Central Bank of Aruba.

The Bahamian dollar replaced the Bahamian pound as the country adopted decimal money. It is issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

The Barbados dollar is a separate currency from the East Caribbean dollar used by several neighboring islands. It is issued by the Central Bank of Barbados.

Belize’s dollar has its own banknotes even though it shares the dollar name with many other countries. It is issued by the Central Bank of Belize.

The Caribbean guilder replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder in Curaçao and Sint Maarten in 2025. It is issued by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

The Cayman Islands dollar replaced the Jamaican dollar as the islands’ local currency. It is issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

The colón is named after Christopher Columbus, whose Spanish surname is Colón. It is issued by the Central Bank of Costa Rica.

The Cuban peso remained after Cuba ended its separate convertible-peso system. It is issued by the Central Bank of Cuba.

The Dominican peso shares its weight-related Spanish name with other pesos but is a separate national currency. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.

The East Caribbean dollar is shared by several island countries and territories. It is issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

The quetzal is named after the colorful bird that is a national symbol of Guatemala. It is issued by the Bank of Guatemala.

Gourde is the French word for gourd, giving Haiti’s currency an unusual everyday name. It is issued by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

The lempira is named after an Indigenous leader remembered for resistance to Spanish conquest. It is issued by the Central Bank of Honduras.

Jamaica replaced its pound with a decimal dollar system. It is issued by the Bank of Jamaica.

The córdoba is named after Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, a Spanish colonial founder of cities in Nicaragua. It is issued by the Central Bank of Nicaragua.

The balboa is named after explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Panama’s government issues balboa coins, while US dollar notes supply its paper money.

The Salvadoran colón retains an active ISO code, but everyday circulation has shifted to the US dollar. Its historical issuer, the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, no longer issues new colón notes.

The Trinidad and Tobago dollar followed the shared British West Indies dollar. It is issued by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

Argentina has used several different currencies called pesos over its history. The current peso arrived in 1992, replacing a currency called the austral. Changing the unit or removing zeros is called redenomination; it changes how prices are written, rather than automatically giving a family more things to buy.

The boliviano takes its name from Bolivia, a country named after independence leader Simón Bolívar. It is issued by the Central Bank of Bolivia.

Brazil introduced the modern real in July 1994 as part of a plan to bring very high inflation under control. Its name revives an older Brazilian currency name and means royal in Portuguese. The R beside the dollar sign helps readers distinguish reais from the many currencies that also use a dollar sign.

Chile brought back the peso in 1975 after a period of using a currency called the escudo. Both names have roots in older Spanish money. A grandparent remembering escudos and a child counting pesos can therefore be describing the same country at different points in its history.

Colombia shares the peso name with several other countries because of their connections to Spanish colonial coinage. Its money developed into a separate national currency after independence. The shared dollar sign is a useful detective lesson: seeing that mark alone does not tell you which country a price belongs to.

The Falkland Islands pound has local notes and coins and is linked at par to sterling. It is issued by the Government of the Falkland Islands.

The Guyanese dollar developed from the British Guiana dollar used before independence. It is issued by the Bank of Guyana.

The guaraní is named after the Guaraní people and language of the region. It is issued by the Central Bank of Paraguay.

Sol means sun in Spanish, making this an especially memorable currency name for children. Peru introduced the nuevo sol in 1991 after a period of very high inflation and an earlier currency called the inti. In 2015, its official name was shortened from nuevo sol to sol.

Suriname replaced its guilder with the Surinamese dollar. It is issued by the Central Bank of Suriname.

Uruguay’s current peso followed an earlier unit called the nuevo peso. It is issued by the Central Bank of Uruguay.

The bolívar is named after independence leader Simón Bolívar and has undergone several redenominations. It is issued by the Central Bank of Venezuela.

The lek is named in honor of Alexander the Great, whose name is rendered Leka in Albanian. It is issued by the Bank of Albania.

Belarus introduced the current ruble in a redenomination that removed four zeros from written amounts. It is issued by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

The convertible mark takes its name from its original link to the German mark. It is issued by the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Koruna means crown, a currency name shared in different forms across Europe. It is issued by the Czech National Bank.

Denmark introduced the krone in 1875 as part of the Scandinavian Monetary Union. Krone means crown, and Danish prices use kr., while Sweden and Norway use kr. Denmark has kept its krone rather than adopting euro cash, so traveling across Europe can still mean learning several kinds of money.

The euro began for accounting and electronic payments in 1999, and euro notes and coins arrived in 2002. Its name comes from Europe, while its sign suggests an E with two parallel strokes. Bulgaria adopted it in January 2026, showing that the map of currencies can change within a child’s lifetime.

Gibraltar issues local pound notes and coins linked at par to sterling. It is issued by the Government of Gibraltar.

Hungary introduced the modern forint in 1946 after extreme inflation had destroyed the value of the pengő. Its name reaches back to the gold florins of Florence and earlier Hungarian coins. The everyday abbreviation Ft shows that a recognizable money sign can be two ordinary letters rather than one special character.

Króna means crown in Icelandic, linking its name to other Nordic currency names. It is issued by the Central Bank of Iceland.

The denar name is related to the ancient Roman denarius. It is issued by the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.

Leu means lion in Romanian, recalling older European coins decorated with a lion. It is issued by the National Bank of Moldova.

Norway introduced the krone in 1875 when it joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union. Its name means crown, much like the Swedish and Danish currency names. Matching names and matching abbreviations do not make these currencies interchangeable: a Norwegian price and a Swedish price still belong to different money systems.

Złoty means golden in Polish, linking the name to the long history of coins made from precious metals. Poland introduced its modern redenominated złoty in 1995 after high inflation had made amounts cumbersome. The short label uses the beginning of the Polish name, including its distinctive crossed letter ł.

The pound has roots in money measured by the weight of silver, long before shopping meant tapping a screen. Its sign comes from an L, connected to the Latin word libra, a unit of weight. Britain switched to a system of 100 pence per pound in 1971, replacing the older pounds, shillings, and pence system.

Leu means lion, a name connected to older European trade coins carrying a lion design. It is issued by the National Bank of Romania.

The ruble name has been used for centuries, through major changes in Russia’s government and money. A redenomination in 1998 removed three zeros from written amounts. The modern sign, a Cyrillic letter Р with an added horizontal stroke, was officially approved in 2013; an old currency can have a much newer symbol.

Dinar is a currency name related to the ancient Roman denarius. It is issued by the National Bank of Serbia.

Krona means crown in Swedish, so the name carries a little royal history into ordinary shopping. Sweden adopted it in 1873 when it joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union. That union is history now, but Sweden, Denmark, and Norway still have separate currencies whose names mean crown.

Switzerland introduced the federal Swiss franc in 1850, helping replace a confusing variety of local coins. The letters CH come from Switzerland’s Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica. The Swiss franc has no single-character sign: prices read CHF or Fr., while ₣ was the French franc’s sign.

Ukraine introduced the modern hryvnia in 1996, after becoming independent. Its name reaches back to medieval units associated with precious metal and weight. The curved currency sign is based on a handwritten Ukrainian letter, making a small connection between everyday prices, language, and a much older monetary history.

Dram is an Armenian word for money and is related to the ancient word drachma. It is issued by the Central Bank of Armenia.

Azerbaijan introduced its post-independence manat in 1992. A new manat entered circulation in January 2006 in a redenomination that made large written amounts smaller. The sign gives it a visual identity separate from other currencies, while the three-letter code distinguishes it from other money also named manat.

Bahrain divides its dinar into 1,000 fils rather than 100 smaller units. It is issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Lari is a Georgian word associated with a hoard or store of property. It is issued by the National Bank of Georgia.

Iranian prices are often discussed in tomans, so the unit named on a price matters when reading amounts in rials. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dinar belongs to a family of currency names related to the ancient Roman denarius. It is issued by the Central Bank of Iraq.

Shekel began as an ancient unit of weight, long before the modern notes in a wallet existed. The new shekel replaced the earlier shekel in 1985 during efforts to control very high inflation. Its symbol combines forms associated with the Hebrew initials of the words for new shekel.

Jordan divides its dinar into 1,000 fils. It is issued by the Central Bank of Jordan.

Kuwait divides its dinar into 1,000 fils. It is issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait.

The Lebanese pound shares the pound name with other currencies but has its own notes and monetary history. It is issued by the Banque du Liban.

Oman divides its rial into 1,000 baisa. It is issued by the Central Bank of Oman.

Qatar’s riyal followed an earlier shared Qatar and Dubai currency. It is issued by the Qatar Central Bank.

Riyal belongs to a family of currency names connected to real, the Spanish word for royal. The name recalls the influence of silver trade coins across a much wider region. Saudi Arabia introduced a new riyal symbol in 2025, another example of a familiar currency gaining a fresh visual identity.

The Syrian pound shares a historical currency name with other pounds while remaining a separate unit. It is issued by the Central Bank of Syria.

The lira name belongs to the same weight-related family of words as libra and pound. Türkiye removed six zeros from its currency in 2005, initially calling the replacement the new Turkish lira. Its distinctive sign was introduced in 2012, giving the currency an easily recognized mark of its own.

The UAE introduced the dirham in 1973, soon after the federation was formed. It replaced the different currencies previously used across the emirates. The name dirham has a long history in the region and is related to the ancient word drachma, showing how money names can travel across languages and centuries.

The Yemeni rial became the currency of unified Yemen, replacing separate northern and southern systems. It is issued by the Central Bank of Yemen.

The dinar replaced the Algerian franc after independence. It is issued by the Bank of Algeria.

The kwanza is named after the Kwanza River in Angola. It is issued by the National Bank of Angola.

Pula means rain in Setswana, reflecting the importance of water in Botswana. It is issued by the Bank of Botswana.

Burundi retained the franc name after the end of the shared Rwanda and Burundi currency. It is issued by the Bank of the Republic of Burundi.

Escudo means shield in Portuguese and recalls an older family of Portuguese coin names. It is issued by the Bank of Cabo Verde.

The Central African CFA franc is shared by six countries and is separate from the West African CFA franc. It is issued by the Bank of Central African States.

The Comorian franc is a separate currency from the West and Central African CFA francs. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Comoros.

The Congolese franc replaced a currency called the new zaire. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Congo.

Djibouti’s franc is a separate currency from the CFA francs used elsewhere in Africa. It is issued by the Central Bank of Djibouti.

Egypt’s pound dates to monetary reforms in the nineteenth century. The familiar English name shares a history of weight-based money with other pounds, but this is a separate Egyptian currency. The app uses E£ to keep it distinct from British pounds, showing why extra letters sometimes accompany a familiar symbol.

The nakfa is named after the Eritrean town of Nakfa. It is issued by the Bank of Eritrea.

Birr is an Ethiopian word associated with silver, recalling the metal once used for money. It is issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The dalasi replaced the Gambian pound when the country adopted decimal money. It is issued by the Central Bank of The Gambia.

Cedi comes from a word for cowrie shells, which were once used as money in the region. It is issued by the Bank of Ghana.

Guinea has used both the franc and a currency called the syli during its monetary history. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea.

The Kenyan shilling succeeded the shared East African shilling after independence. It is issued by the Central Bank of Kenya.

The singular name is loti and the plural is maloti; the South African rand also circulates in Lesotho. It is issued by the Central Bank of Lesotho.

Liberia’s dollar circulates alongside the US dollar, so a dollar price needs its currency identified. It is issued by the Central Bank of Liberia.

The Libyan dinar replaced the Libyan pound. It is issued by the Central Bank of Libya.

The ariary is divided into five iraimbilanja, an unusual alternative to a hundred-part system. It is issued by the Central Bank of Madagascar.

Kwacha means dawn in local languages, giving the currency a name associated with a new beginning. It is issued by the Reserve Bank of Malawi.

The ouguiya is divided into five khoums rather than a hundred smaller units. It is issued by the Central Bank of Mauritania.

The Mauritian rupee shares a silver-related name with several currencies around the Indian Ocean. It is issued by the Bank of Mauritius.

The dirham name is related to the ancient word drachma and has a long history in regional trade. It is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib.

Metical takes its name from a historical unit of weight used in trade. It is issued by the Bank of Mozambique.

The Namibian dollar circulates alongside the South African rand. It is issued by the Bank of Namibia.

Nigeria introduced the naira in January 1973, replacing the Nigerian pound and moving to decimal money. Each naira was divided into 100 kobo, making the counting system easier to learn. Its crossed N is a helpful visual clue to the currency name even before a child learns its international code.

Rwanda retained the franc name after the end of the shared Rwanda and Burundi currency. It is issued by the National Bank of Rwanda.

The dobra’s name recalls older Portuguese gold coinage. It is issued by the Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The Seychelles rupee belongs to the family of rupee currencies used around the Indian Ocean. It is issued by the Central Bank of Seychelles.

The current leone replaced the earlier unit in a redenomination that removed three zeros from written amounts. It is issued by the Bank of Sierra Leone.

The Somali shilling followed earlier currencies used in the territories that formed Somalia. It is issued by the Central Bank of Somalia.

South Africa introduced the rand in 1961, replacing its pound as the country moved to decimal money. The name comes from the Witwatersrand, the region famous for gold deposits. That makes the name a tiny geography lesson, linking a shopping receipt to a place and its mining history.

South Sudan introduced its own pound after becoming independent from Sudan. It is issued by the Bank of South Sudan.

The Saint Helena pound has local notes and coins linked at par to sterling. It is issued by the Government of Saint Helena.

Sudan has used both pounds and dinars during its modern monetary history. It is issued by the Central Bank of Sudan.

The singular name is lilangeni and the plural is emalangeni; the South African rand also circulates in Eswatini. It is issued by the Central Bank of Eswatini.

The Tanzanian shilling succeeded the shared East African shilling. It is issued by the Bank of Tanzania.

Tunisia divides its dinar into 1,000 millimes. It is issued by the Central Bank of Tunisia.

The Ugandan shilling succeeded the shared East African shilling after independence. It is issued by the Bank of Uganda.

The West African CFA franc is shared by eight countries and is separate from the Central African CFA franc. It is issued by the Central Bank of West African States.

Kwacha means dawn in local languages and is also the name of Malawi’s separate currency. It is issued by the Bank of Zambia.

Zimbabwe introduced Zimbabwe Gold, often called ZiG, in 2024; foreign currencies also circulate in the country. It is issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The afghani takes its name from Afghanistan and replaced the earlier Afghan rupee. It is issued by the Da Afghanistan Bank.

Bangladesh introduced the taka in 1972, following independence in 1971. The new notes helped give the country its own everyday monetary identity. They also offer children a chance to compare Bengali writing and numerals with the lettering and numbers they recognize on money at home.

The ngultrum is Bhutan’s national currency and circulates alongside the Indian rupee. It is issued by the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan.

The rupee’s name comes from a word associated with worked silver, recalling a time when a coin’s metal mattered greatly. India adopted its modern currency symbol in 2010. The design brings together a Devanagari letter form and the Roman R, connecting the sign to more than one writing tradition.

Kazakhstan introduced the tenge in November 1993 after independence and the breakup of the Soviet Union. A national currency let it conduct its own monetary policy rather than continuing with the ruble. Its banknotes have changed designs over time, connecting everyday payments with the country’s culture and history.

Som is a word associated with pure metal in several Turkic languages. It is issued by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The rufiyaa’s name belongs to the same silver-related word family as rupee. It is issued by the Maldives Monetary Authority.

The Nepalese rupee shares its silver-related name with other rupees but has its own banknotes. It is issued by the Nepal Rastra Bank.

Pakistan retained the rupee name after independence and later adopted decimal subdivisions. It is issued by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Sri Lanka retained the rupee name after the country’s name changed from Ceylon. It is issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The somoni is named after Ismail Somoni, a ruler associated with Tajik national history. It is issued by the National Bank of Tajikistan.

The manat replaced the ruble after Turkmenistan became independent. It is issued by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan.

The sum replaced the temporary sum-coupon used after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Renminbi means the people’s currency, while yuan is the unit used when counting it. The People’s Bank of China first issued renminbi in 1948. Yuan is connected to the idea of round coins, which helps explain the family resemblance among the names yuan, yen, and won.

Hong Kong’s dollar grew out of a trading economy in which silver dollars circulated widely. An unusual feature is that three commercial banks issue most banknotes under official authorization. This is a separate currency from mainland China’s renminbi, so crossing between the two places involves two different monetary systems.

Japan introduced the yen in 1871 as part of a new national currency system. Yen means round, connecting the name to the shape of coins. Its sign can look the same as the Chinese yuan sign, so the JPY code and the country named on a price help tell the two apart.

Macao’s pataca is separate from both the Hong Kong dollar and mainland China’s renminbi. It is issued by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

Tögrög is associated with the idea of something round, recalling the shape of a coin. It is issued by the Bank of Mongolia.

The New Taiwan dollar was introduced in 1949 after severe inflation had affected the earlier Taiwan dollar. New remains part of its name even many decades later. The letters NT often appear beside the dollar sign, helping families distinguish this dollar from American, Canadian, and other dollar currencies.

North Korea’s won is a separate currency from South Korea’s won, despite their shared name. It is issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

South Korea introduced the current won in 1962, replacing a currency called the hwan. The name is related to the same round-coin word family as yen and yuan. Its sign looks like a W crossed by horizontal strokes, a useful memory aid when children compare the symbols on this page.

Brunei and Singapore maintain a currency interchangeability agreement while issuing separate banknotes. It is issued by the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.

Cambodia reintroduced the riel after a period when money had been abolished under the Khmer Rouge. It is issued by the National Bank of Cambodia.

Rupiah is related to rupee, linking the name to the older silver-money tradition. Indonesia redenominated its money in 1965, but everyday rupiah prices still commonly involve many thousands. A long row of digits does not tell you what a family can afford: you need to consider local prices and income together.

The kip is Laos’s national currency and uses a name associated with an ingot. It is issued by the Bank of the Lao PDR.

Malaysia began issuing its own national currency in 1967 after sharing an earlier regional currency system. Ringgit became the official currency name in 1975, replacing Malaysian dollar in law. Its short label RM stands for Ringgit Malaysia, an example of a currency label made from letters rather than a single special character.

Kyat was historically a unit of weight as well as a name for money. It is issued by the Central Bank of Myanmar.

The peso name reflects the Philippines’ history under Spanish rule and the movement of silver coins through ocean trade. After the Central Bank of the Philippines was created in 1949, it issued a series of notes with English wording. Later designs used Filipino, reminding children that banknotes carry language history too.

Singapore began issuing its own dollar in 1967 after the end of a shared regional currency system. Singapore and Brunei also established a currency interchangeability agreement that year. The arrangement is a useful example of neighboring places cooperating over money while keeping separate national currencies and banknote designs.

The baht began as a unit of weight used for silver, connecting Thai money with the metal once used to measure its value. Thailand moved to a decimal system of 100 satang per baht in the late nineteenth century. Its crossed B sign helps children recognize Thai prices even before they can read the surrounding words.

The word đồng is associated with copper, recalling earlier metal coins. Vietnam carried out a currency reform in 1985 that replaced old dong with new dong. Today, many ordinary amounts are written in thousands, so children should compare what money buys rather than assuming that a bigger printed number means a bigger treat.

Australia changed from pounds to dollars and cents in 1966, turning a complicated counting system into decimal money. In 1988 it issued a commemorative polymer banknote, an important step toward its plastic notes. Polymer notes are a good reminder that money’s material can change as well as its name.

The CFP franc is shared by French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna. It is issued by the Institut d’émission d’outre-mer.

Fiji replaced its pound with a decimal dollar system. It is issued by the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

New Zealand introduced dollars and cents in 1967, replacing pounds, shillings, and pence. The change made everyday calculations decimal, like the system children use when counting in tens. Its dollar shares a name and sign with several other currencies, but NZD identifies this particular one.

Kina takes its name from a type of shell traditionally used in exchange. It is issued by the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Tālā is the Samoan form of dollar, and the currency replaced the Samoan pound. It is issued by the Central Bank of Samoa.

The Solomon Islands dollar replaced the Australian dollar as the islands’ national currency. It is issued by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.

The paʻanga takes its name from a vine whose seeds were used as counters. It is issued by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga.

Vanuatu introduced the vatu after independence, replacing the New Hebrides franc. It is issued by the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu.