Highest valued currency unit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The highest valued currency unit is the currency in which a single unit buys the highest number of any given other currency or the largest amount of a given good. Most commonly the calculation is made against a major reserve currency such as the euro (EUR), the pound sterling (GBP) or the United States dollar (USD).
A high-valued currency is distinct from a hard currency, which is a currency with a good buying power and which is widely accepted as a reliable store of value. For example, a Kuwaiti dinar is not of very much use outside Kuwait, and is bound to the economy of that country. It is in fact pegged to a basket of hard currencies. In contrast, the Japanese yen is considered a hard currency even though the nominal rate of the dinar is more than 300 times[1] that of the yen.
[edit] List of highest valued currency units
As of September 12, 2009, the 15 highest valued currencies are:[2][3]
| No. | State | Currency | Code | United States dollars USD−1 |
Euro EUR−1 |
Kuwaiti dinars KWD−1 |
Highest valued coin |
Highest valued banknote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Kuwait |
Dinar | KWD | 3.49223 0.286350 |
2.39291 0.417901 |
1 | .100 | 20 |
| 2. |  Bahrain |
dinar | BHD | 2.65252 0.377000 |
1.81753 0.550196 |
0.759549 1.31657 |
.500 | 20 |
| 3. |  Oman |
rial | OMR | 2.60078 0.384500 |
1.78208 0.561142 |
0.744733 1.34276 |
.500 | 50 |
| 4. |  Latvia |
lats [4] | LVL | 2.07655 0.481569 |
1.42287 0.702804 [5] |
0.594619 1.68175 |
2 | 500 |
| 5. |  United Kingdom |
pound [6] | GBP | 1.66961 0.598943 |
1.14403 0.874100 |
0.478095 2.09163 |
5 (commem.) 2 (common) |
50 (Eng & Wal) 100 (Sco & NI) |
 Falkland Islands |
pound [5] | FKP | 2 | 50 | ||||
 Gibraltar |
pound [5] | GIP | 2 | 50 | ||||
 Saint Helena |
pound [5] | SHP | 2 | 20 | ||||
| IMF | Special Drawing Rights |
XDR | 1.48271 0.67444 |
1.14041 0.87687 |
0.43334 2.30767 |
|||
| 6. |  European Union (Eurozone) |
euro | EUR | 1.45941 0.685210 |
1 | 0.417901 2.39291 |
2 | 500 |
| 7. |  Jordan |
dinar | JOD | 1.41243 0.708000 |
0.967811 1.03326 |
0.404449 2.47250 |
1 | 50 |
| 8. |  Azerbaijan |
manat | AZN | 1.24486 0.803300 |
0.852994 1.17234 |
0.356467 2.80531 |
.50 | 100 |
| 9. |  Cayman Islands |
dollar | KYD | 1.23457 0.810000 |
0.845939 1.18212 |
0.353519 2.82871 |
.25 | 100 |
| 10. |  Cuba |
convertible peso | CUC[7] | 1.08003 0.925900 |
0.740048 1.35126 |
0.309267 3.23346 |
5 (rare) 1 (common) |
100 |
| 11. |  United States |
dollar | USD | 1 | 0.685210 1.45941 |
0.286350 3.49223 |
1 (uncommon) .25 (common) |
100 |
 Bahamas |
dollar | BSD | 1 [5] | 1 (rare) .25 (common) |
100 | |||
 Bermuda |
dollar | BMD | 1 | 100 | ||||
 Panama |
balboa | PAB | .50 | - | ||||
| 12. |  Switzerland |
franc | CHF | 0.963577 1.03780 |
0.660253 1.51457 |
0.275920 3.62424 |
5 | 1000 |
| 13. |  Canada |
dollar | CAD | 0.928936 1.07650 |
0.636517 1.57105 |
0.266001 3.75939 |
2 | 100 |
| 14. |  Australia |
dollar | AUD | 0.864903 1.15620 |
0.592641 1.68736 |
0.247665 4.03771 |
200 (commem.) 2 |
100 |
| 15. |  Libya |
dinar | LYD | 0.819724 1.21992 |
0.561683 1.78036 |
0.234728 4.26025 |
.500 | 50 |
- ^ 21 August 2008, from Yahoo Finance.
- ^ Floating exchange rate data taken from www.xe.com on September 12, 2009.
- ^ Cypriot pound and Maltese lira were on the list in December 2007. They were replaced by the euro on 1 January 2008.
- ^ Scheduled to join the euro.
- ^ a b c d e Currency peg.
- ^ The highest-valued currency unit of any OECD member-state.
- ^ Not an ISO 4217 currency code.
[edit] Mathematical details
- Bold values are defined pegged rate by various authorities
- Exchange rate data was obtained from xe.com
