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 April 22, 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 | 3.42160 0.29226 |
2.63170 0.37998 |
1 | .100 | 20 |
| 2. |  Bahrain |
dinar | BHD | 2.65245 0.37701 |
2.04011 0.49017 |
0.77521 1.28998 |
.500 | 20 |
| 3. |  Oman |
rial | OMR | 2.59740 0.38500 |
1.99777 0.50056 |
0.75912 1.31732 |
.500 | 50 |
| 4. |  Latvia |
lats [4] | LVL | 1.84995 0.54056 |
1.42287 0.702804 [5] |
0.54067 1.84956 |
2 | 500 |
| IMF | Special Drawing Rights |
XDR | 1.48271 0.67444 |
1.14041 0.87687 |
0.43334 2.30767 |
|||
| 5. |  United Kingdom |
pound [6] | GBP | 1.44852 0.69036 |
1.11412 0.89757 |
0.42335 2.36214 |
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 | ||||
| 6. |  Jordan |
dinar | JOD | 1.41243 0.70800 |
1.08636 0.92051 |
0.41280 2.42249 |
1 | 50 |
| 7. |  European Union (Eurozone) |
euro | EUR | 1.30015 0.76914 |
1 | 0.37998 2.63170 |
2 | 500 |
| 8. |  Azerbaijan |
manat | AZN | 1.24456 0.80350 |
0.95724 1.04467 |
0.36374 2.74924 |
.50 | 100 |
| 9. |  Cayman Islands |
dollar | KYD | 1.18500 [5] 0.84388 |
0.91143 1.09717 |
0.34633 2.88743 |
.25 | 100 |
| 10. |  Cuba |
convertible peso | CUC[7] | 1.08003 0.92590 |
0.83070 1.20381 |
0.31565 3.16806 |
5 (rare) 1 (common) |
100 |
| 11. |  United States |
dollar | USD | 1 | 0.76914 1.30015 |
0.29226 3.42160 |
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 | 0.85925 1.16380 |
0.66089 1.51311 |
0.25113 3.98206 |
5 | 1000 |
| 13. |  Canada |
dollar | CAD | 0.80626 1.24030 |
0.62013 1.61257 |
0.23564 4.24380 |
2 | 100 |
| 14. |  Libya |
dinar | LYD | 0.76730 1.30327 |
0.59016 1.69445 |
0.22425 4.45927 |
.500 | 50 |
| 15. |  Australia |
dollar | AUD | 0.70525 1.41793 |
0.54244 1.84353 |
0.20612 4.85160 |
200 (commem.) 2 |
100 |
- ^ 21 August 2008, from Yahoo Finance.
- ^ Floating exchange rate data taken from www.xe.com on April 22, 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 f 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
