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 one would consider a British pound sterling, one would not consider a British penny.

1 Historical least valued currencies
2 Current least valued currency units
3 See also
4 References

[edit] 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	present	Zimbabwe	Revalued Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)	250 (official) 16,000 - 25,000 (parallel)	Changes 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.

[edit] Current least valued currency units

As of March 29, 2007, the list of the least valued currencies included 26 currencies for which 1 USD was worth more than (or almost, in the case of South Korean won) 1,000 currency units.

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 1200 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] On March 29, 2007, it was reported that 1 USD can be exchanged for 26,000 Zimbabwean revalued dollars in parallel markets^[2], which makes it first place again. Since only the Zimbabwe government can buy US dollars at the official rate, the parallel rate (used by the general public) is used here.

No.	State	Currency	Abbr	Mar 29, 2007 1 USD =	Value in Zimbabwean dollars	Highest valued coin (if any)	Highest valued banknote
1.	Zimbabwe	revalued dollar †	ZWD	c. 26,000	1.00	None in use	100,000 Bearer Cheque ($3.85)
2.	Vietnam	đồng	VND	16,015.00	1.62	5,000 (31.2¢)	500,000 ($31.22)
3.	Laos	kip	LAK	9,650.35	2.69	None in use	50,000 ($5.18)
4.	Iran	rial	IRR	9,240.00	2.81	500 (5.4¢)	50,000 (legal tender; $5.41) 5,000,000 ("cash cheque"; $541.13)
5.	Ghana	cedi^[3] ℓ	GHC	9,180.00	2.83	500 (5.4¢)	20,000 ($2.18)
6.	Indonesia	rupiah	IDR	9,142.14	2.84	1,000 (10.9¢, uncommon) 500 (5.5¢)	100,000 ($10.94)
7.	São Tomé and Príncipe	dobra	STD	6,735.00	3.86	2,000 (29.7¢)	50,000 ($7.43)
8.	Guinea	franc	GNF	6,005.65	4.33	50 (0.83¢)	5,000 (83.3¢)
9.	Turkmenistan	manat	TMM	5,200.05	5.00	1,000 (19.2¢)	10,000 ($1.92)
10.	Paraguay	guaraní	PYG	5,091.25	5.11	500 (9.8¢)	100,000 ($19.64)
11.	Zambia	kwacha	ZMK	4,220.00	6.16	None in use	50,000 ($11.85)
12.	Cambodia	riel	KHR	4,007.15	6.49	None in use	100,000 ($24.96)
13.	Sierra Leone	leone	SLL	2,945.00	8.83	500 (17.0¢, uncommon) 100 (3.4¢)	10,000 ($3.40)
14.	Colombia	peso	COP	2,172.09	11.97	1,000 (46.0¢, uncommon) 500 (23.0¢)	50,000 ($23.02)
15.	Venezuela	bolívar^[4] ℓ	VEB	2,148.89	12.10	1,000 (46.5¢)	50,000 ($23.27)
16.	Belarus	ruble	BYR	2,147.30	12.10	None in use	100,000 ($46.55)
17.	Madagascar	ariary	MGA	1,947.00	13.35	50 (2.6¢)	10,000 ($5.14)
18.	Uganda	shilling	UGX	1,730.00	15.03	500 (28.9¢)	50,000 ($28.90)
19.	Lebanon	pound	LBP	1,511.00	17.21	500 (33.1¢)	100,000 ($66.18)
20.	Somalia	shilling	SOS	1,335.00	19.48	100? (7.5¢)	1,000 (74.9¢)
21.	Iraq	dinar	IQD	1,278.70	20.33	100 (7.8¢)	25,000 ($19.55)
22.	Uzbekistan	som	UZS	1,251.69	20.77	50 (4.0¢)	1,000 (79.9¢)
23.	Tanzania	shilling	TZS	1,233.01	21.09	200 (16.2¢)	10,000 ($8.11)
24.	Mongolia	tugrug	MNT	1,162.00	22.38	500 (43.0¢)	20,000 ($17.21)
25.	Burundi	franc	BIF	1,041.97	24.95	10? (0.96¢)	10,000 ($9.60)
26.	Republic of Korea	won ‡	KRW	940.442	27.65	500 (53.2¢)	10,000 (banknote; $10.63) 100,000 (bank cheque; $106.33)
Value of Zimbabwean dollar taken from Zimbabwesituation.com
Data for other currencies taken from [3]