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 euro (EUR) or the United States dollar (USD). Sub-units are generally 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 March 20, 2008, there were 24 currencies for which over 1,000 units were required to buy 1 USD.

In addition

• If black market rates were used, the North Korean won and Myanmar kyat would be included on the list. The North Korean won is believed to be worth about 2000 to the US dollar and the Myanmar kyat is worth about 1250 to the US dollar.

• Somaliland, not widely recognised as an independent sovereign state, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling. As of 2001, the official exchange rate of the Somaliland Central Bank was 4,500 shillings for 1 US dollar. Unofficial exchange rates fluctuate between 4,000 and 5,000 shillings per dollar.

• Zimbabwean dollar held the first place before its redenomination and devaluation on August 1, 2006. The dollar was redenominated from 1000 old dollars to 1 revalued dollar. In addition, there was a 60% devaluation to the US dollar, from 101,000 ZWD/USD to 250 revalued (250,000 old) ZWD/USD (official rate). ^[1]

No.	State	Currency	Abbr	May 9, 2008 1 USD =	Value in Zimbabwean dollars	Highest valued coin (if any)	Highest valued banknote
1.	Zimbabwe	revalued dollar *+	ZWD	236,706,849.48	1	None in use	50 billion Agro Cheque ($211.23)
2.	Vietnam	đồng	VND	16,155.00	14,652.23	5,000 (31.0¢)	500,000 ($30.95)
3.	São Tomé and Príncipe	dobra	STD	14,445.00	16,386.77	2,000 (13.8¢)	50,000 ($3.46)
4.	Indonesia	rupiah	IDR	9,280.63	25,505.47	1,000 (10.8¢, uncommon) 500 (5.4¢)	100,000 ($10.78)
5.	Iran	rial+[2]	IRR	9,251.00	25,587.16	500 (5.4¢)	50,000 (legal tender; $5.40) 5,000,000 ("cash cheque"; $540.48)
6.	Laos	kip	LAK	8,740.45	27,081.77	None in use	50,000 ($5.72)
7.	Turkmenistan	manat	TMM	5,200.05	45,520.11	1,000 (19.2¢)	10,000 ($1.92)
8.	Guinea	franc	GNF	4,431.50	53,414.61	50 (1.1¢)	10,000 ($2.26)
9.	Paraguay	guaraní	PYG	4,010.00	59,029.14	1,000 (24.9¢)	100,000 ($24.94)
10.	Cambodia	riel	KHR	3,933.10	60,183.28	None in use	100,000 ($25.43)
11.	Zambia	kwacha	ZMK	3,385.00	69,928.17	None in use	50,000 ($14.77)
12.	Sierra Leone	leone	SLL	2,895.00	81,764.02	500 (17.3¢, uncommon) 100 (3.5¢)	10,000 ($3.45)
13.	Belarus	ruble	BYR	2,130.38	111,110.15	None in use	100,000 ($46.94)
14.	Colombia	peso +	COP	1,788.00	132,386.68	500 (28.0¢)	50,000 ($27.96)
15.	Uganda	shilling	UGX	1,635.00	144,774.83	500 (30.6¢)	50,000 ($30.58)
16.	Madagascar	ariary	MGA	1,625.00	145,665.75	50 (3.1¢)	10,000 ($6.15)
17.	Lebanon	pound	LBP	1,512.00	156,552.15	500 (33.1¢)	100,000 ($66.14)
18.	Somalia	shilling	SOS	1,346.00	175,859.47	100 (7.4¢)	1,000 (74.3¢)
19.	Uzbekistan	som	UZS	1,300.89	181,957.62	50 (3.8¢)	1,000 (76.9¢)
20.	Tanzania	shilling	TZS	1,205.00	196,537.22	200 (16.6¢)	10,000 ($8.30)
21.	Iraq	dinar	IQD	1,198.60	197,486.11	100 (8.3¢)	25,000 ($20.86)
22.	Mongolia	tögrög	MNT	1,163.00	203,531.25	500 (43.0¢)	20,000 ($17.20)
23.	Burundi	franc	BIF	1,159.05	204,224.88	10 (0.9¢)	10,000 ($8.63)
24.	South Korea	won ‡	KRW	1,047.07	226,065.93	500 (47.8¢)	10,000 (banknote; $9.55) 100,000 (bank cheque; $95.50)
Data for Zimbabwean dollar taken from http://www.rbz.co.zw/fca/fca.asp
Data for all other currencies taken from Xe.com

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	Present	Zimbabwe	Revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)	250 - 237,000,000 (official) 20,000 - 250,000,000 (parallel) (parallel and official converged around May 6, 2008)	Changes daily due to hyperinflation. Redenomination planned for Dec 2007 was postponed.

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

• Highest valued currency unit
• Devaluation
• Inflation
• Hyperinflation
• Denomination (currency)

References