Tunisian dinar

Tunisian dinar
دينار تونسي (Arabic)
1 Tunisian Dinar
ISO 4217 code	TND
Central bank	Central Bank of Tunisia
Website	www.bct.gov.tn
User(s)	Tunisia
Inflation	4.5%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/1000	milim or millime
Symbol	د.ت (Arabic) or DT (Latin)
Coins
Freq. used	20, 50, 100 milim, ½, 1, 5 dinar
Banknotes
Freq. used	10, 20, 30, 50 dinar
Rarely used	5 dinar

The dinar (Arabic: دينار‎, ISO 4217 currency code: TND) is the currency of Tunisia. It is subdivided into 1000 milim or millimes (مليم). The abbreviation DT is often used in Tunisia, although writing "dinar" after the amount is also acceptable (TND is less colloquial, and tends to be used more in financial circles); the abbreviation TD is also mentioned in a few places, but is less frequently used, given the common use of the French language in Tunisia, and the French derivation of DT (i.e., Dinar tunisien).

History

The dinar was introduced in 1960, having been established as a unit of account in 1958. It replaced the franc at a rate of 1000 francs = 1 dinar. The dinar did not follow the devaluation of the French franc in 1958, resulting in the exchange rate being abandoned. Instead a peg to the United States dollar of 0.42 dinar = 1 dollar was established which was maintained until 1964, when the dinar devalued to 0.525 dinar = 1 dollar. This second rate was held until the dollar was devalued in 1971.

Coins

In 1960, aluminium 1, 2 and 5 milim and brass 10, 20, 50 and 100 milim coins were introduced. The 1 and 2 milim were last issued in 1980 and 1983 respectively, and are no longer legal tender. In 1968, nickel ½ dinar coins were introduced, replaced by smaller, cupro-nickel pieces in 1976, when cupro-nickel 1 dinar coins were also introduced. Bimetallic 5 dinar coins were introduced in 2002.

Coins in circulation are [broken] (link included current and historic coins and banknotes)

• 5 milim
• 10 milim
• 20 milim
• 50 milim
• 100 milim
• ½ dinar
• 1 dinar
• 5 dinar

Banknotes

In 1960, banknotes were introduced by the Central Bank of Tunisia in denominations of ½, 1 and 5 dinar. These were followed by 10 dinar notes in 1969. The last ½ dinar notes were dated 1973 whilst the last 1 dinar notes were dated 1980. 20 dinar notes were introduced in 1980, with the last 5 dinar notes dated 1993. 30 dinar notes were issued in 1997. 50 dinar notes were issued on July 25, 2009. In 2006 an updated version of the frequently used 10 dinar note, with holographic foil, was issued.

Current Series
Image		Value	Main Colour	Description
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse
		5 Dinars	Green	Hannibal, Port Pinique (Carthage)
		10 Dinars	Blue	Ibn Khaldoun
		10 Dinars	Blue	Elissa (Dido) Instituted after the United Nations IT conference in Tunis 2006.	Sbeitla temple, satellite dish
		20 Dinars	Purple	Kheireddine Et-Tounsi
		20 Dinars	Red, blue, and yellow	Kheireddine Et-Tounsi, Ksar Ouled Soltane fortified granary in Tataouine district	L’ecole Sadiki (Sadiki College) building in Tunis
		30 Dinars	Orange	Abou el Kacem Chebbi	Field and water tower
		50 Dinars	Green and purple	Ibn El Rachiq Kairouani, the City of Culture building	Rades bridge over ship canal to Tunis, Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport (formerly Zine el-Abidine ben Ali Airport; renamed after President el-Abidine left the country in 2011)
		50 Dinars	Green, blue, and orange	Ibn El Rachiq Kairouani, Musée de la Monnaie (Currency Museum) building in Tunis	Place Gouvernement la Kasbah, central square in Tunis

Popular nomenclature

Tunisians sometimes do not use the main division, dinar, when mentioning prices of goods. Accordingly, 50 dinar is often referred to as khamsin alf (fifty thousand). This convention is used even for higher prices, for example 70,000 dinars would be called sab'in maliun (seventy million). "Francs" is also still heard from time to time, 1000 of them colloquially representing a single dinar.

Currency restrictions

It is a criminal offence in Tunisia to import or export dinar. Every year, each citizen can convert into foreign currency up to 6,000 Tunisian dinars before departure from the country. Therefore, prices at duty-free shops are in convertible currencies such as euros, US dollars and British pounds. There are many converting ATMs in the country for tourists. It is necessary for anyone leaving Tunisia to declare any cash in their possession exceeding the equivalent of UK£500 beforehand.

Current TND exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OzForex:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

See also

• Economy of Tunisia