MODERN

EUROPEAN
CURRENCIES

Submitted by:
Danganan, Christine Joy
Gervacio, Frances Rose
Mangune, Katelyn
Maquiling, Zara
Ortiz, Vangie
BSA – 1A

Submitted to:
Ms. Geralyn A. Quiambao
EURO
 The first phase of
the euro launches occurred
in 1999. It was introduced as
the currency for electronic
payments. These included
credit and debit cards, loans
and for accounting purposes.
During this initial phase, old
currencies were used for
cash only. Eleven nations
adopted it right away. They
were Austria, Belgium,
Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Portugal, and
Spain.
E There are 23 countries
The euro is the form
of money for the 19
member-countries of the
U members who are EU members
eurozone. It's the second
most widely used currency
in forex trading after the
U.S. dollar. It's also the
R Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
second most widely held
foreign exchange reserve
used by central banks. As of
the third quarter 2018,
O Spain. The non-EU countries are
foreign governments held
$2.2 trillion compared to
$6.6 trillion in U.S. dollar
reserves.
Like the dollar, the
euro is managed by one
central bank, the European
Central Bank. But being
shared by 19 countries
complicates its management.
Each country sets its own
fiscal policy that affects the
euro's value.
The euro symbol is €.
Euros are divided into euro
cents; each euro cent is one one-
hundredth of a euro. There are
seven denominations: €5, €10,
€20, €50, €100, and €500. Each
bill and coin come in different
sizes. The bills also have raised
print, while the coins have
distinct edges. These features
allow the visually impaired to
distinguish one denomination
from another.
that use the euro as of 2018. The
eurozone consists of 19
and use the euro. They are
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,
Estonia, Finland, France,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and
Andorra, Vatican City, and
Monaco and San Marino.
Fourteen African
nations peg their currency to the
euro. They are former French
colonies that adopted the CFA
franc when France switched to
the euro. They are Benin,
Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chad,
Republic of Congo, Côte
D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali,
Niger, Senegal, and Togo.
BELARUSIAN
RUBLE
 BELARUSIAN RUBLE
The value of the Belarusian
ruble has fallen significantly since it was
first introduced, and over the last eight
years it has been devalued a number of
times. In 2009 the Central Bank of the
Republic of Belarus lowered the rate by
20%, then in May of 2011 it followed
this up with a further 56% drop. Only a
As part of the Soviet Union, matter of months later, in October 2011,
the Central Bank dropped the rate by a
Belarus used the Soviet ruble until 1992.
further 34.2%. In 2015 the value was
After the fall of the Soviet Union the
again reduced by 23% against the USD
country was in desperate need of
as a result of sanctions on Russia,
banknotes, but lacked the authority to
Belarus’s most important ally, which hit
print their own Soviet notes. Instead the
the economy hard. In 2016 the currency
government introduced its own currency,
was redenominated at a rate of 1 to
the Belarusian ruble. The alternative
10,000.
name Taler was also proposed but
rejected by the heavily pro-Russian
majority in the Supreme Soviet of
Despite many serious political
Belarus – the governing body. The Soviet issues, and the regular need to devalue
Ruble continued to circulate at the same the currency, Belarus ranks relatively
time as the Bulgarian ruble until it was highly in the ease-of-doing-business
fully replaced in 1992 at a rate of 1 scale at 37th. The country also has a very
Belarusian ruble to 10 Soviet rubles. health debt to GDP ratio and low
unemployment, both of which signal
The second ruble was introduced hope for a brighter future.
in 2000, replacing the old ruble at a rate
of 1 BYR to 1,000 BYB. The second
ruble was then replaced by the third ruble
in 2016 at a rate of 1 BYN to 10,000
BYR. The newest series of rubles
includes coins, which were omitted from
the second series. All of the notes are
dated 2009 and closely resemble euro
notes.
BULGARIAN
LEV
 BGN is the currency
abbreviation or currency symbol
for the Bulgarian Lev. The
currency symbol was BGL until
1999. The currency's name
comes from the archaic
Bulgarian word "lev," which can
be translated to mean "lion."
While no timeline exists, the
euro will eventually replace the
BGN. The plural form of the
Bulgarian Lev is the Bulgarian
leva.
The first circulation is
between 1881 and 1952. The
currency remained intermittently
on the gold standard between
1899 and 1912 and banknotes
had gold backing until 1923.
The currency saw
redenomination and began its
second period between 1952-
1962. Wartime pressures caused
inflation in the country, and at
revaluation one old lev
exchanged for 100 new leva.
The exchange offered a
different, less generous, rate for
some bank accounts. The
currency now pegged to the U.S.
dollar at a rate of 6.8 leva equal
to 1 dollar.
1962 to 1999 marked the
third period of the Bulgarian
Lev. This period began with
another redenomination,
and the currency remained stable
for nearly 30 years. It had gold
BUL
backing until 1989 and was not
convertible to Western
currencies. With the fall of the
Soviet occupation, the country
GAR
experienced inflation and
devaluation of the money. At
this point, the currency again
moved off the gold standard and
IAN
pegged to the Deutsche Mark.
In 1999, the BGN saw
redenomination for the third
time. Bulgaria received
LEV
acceptance into the European
Union (EU) in 2007, and the
country intends to transfer to the
new currency.
In 1999, the BGN saw
redenomination for the third
time. Bulgaria received
acceptance into the European
Union (EU) in 2007, and the
country intends to transfer to the
new currency. However,
postponement of the conversion
continues, and no date is
currently set.

Bulgaria has made plans in the past to switch over from the Bulgarian Lev (BGN) and to
adopt the euro, but not everyone agrees that getting rid of the lev would be in the country’s best
interest. Some financial experts believe that Bulgaria should hold tight onto the lev and help keep its
country currency strong and stable.
NORWEGIAN
KRONE

The Norwegian krone
(pluralized as “kroner”) is the
sole national currency of
Norway. NOK is its currency
code, and its currency symbol
is “kr.” One krone is made up
of 100 minor units called øre
(“ore”), and its banknotes
come in the denominations of
50kr, 100kr, 200kr, 500kr and
1000kr.
Coins come in the
denominations of 1kr, 5kr,
10kr and 20kr. The Norges
Bank acts as the sole regulator
and issuer of all bills and coins
in Norway.
Coins dating back to
the year 1000 A.D. are the first
known forms of currency used
in Norway. They were
produced sparingly at the
discretion of the royal family
who resided and governed the
region during this period.
Official minting and capacity
for the mass production of
coins was not developed until
the early 17th century. In the
year 1628, a national mint was
established in Norway.
NORWEGIAN
KRONE
Its function was to produce
coins made of domestically
mined silver for trade by the
populace.
The first known
Norwegian coin is a penny
attributed to Olav Tryggvason,
around the year 1000. Minting
of coins was a royal monopoly.
For long periods no coins were
minted in Norway, and
monetary needs were then
satisfied through import of
foreign coins.
The transition to paper
banknotes has its beginning in
1736 with the creation of the
first bank in the Denmark-
Norway region. The Kroner
was first introduced in 1875 to
replace the Norwegian
Speciedaler, at a fixed rate of 4
Kroner = 1 Speciedaler. This
pushed Norway to join the
Scandinavian Monetary Union,
which was established in 1873.
The Kroner was first
introduced in 1875 to replace
the Norwegian Speciedaler, at
a fixed rate of 4 Kroner = 1
Speciedaler.
This pushed Norway
to join the Scandinavian
Monetary Union, which was
established in 1873. The
Scandinavian Monetary Union
continued until 1914; after its
suspension, Sweden, Norway,
and Denmark decided to keep
the names of their respective
currencies. In December 1992
the Norges Bank (the central
bank of Norway) discarded the
fixed exchange rate, due to
heavy speculation against the
Kroner. The restatement of the
exchange rate led to a shortfall
of approximately 2 billion
Kroner for foreign coinage
reserves of the Norwegian
Central Bank.
 FOURTH
ROMANIAN
LEU

RON is the
abbreviation for the Romanian
new leu, the currency for
Romania. The Romanian new
leu is made up of 100 bani and
is often represented with the
symbol L. The new leu
replaced the old Romanian leu,
currency symbol ROL, in July
2005 at a rate of 10,000 old leu
to one new leu.
The new leu is the
fourth leu in a series of
currencies brought about
FOURTH
ROMANIAN LEU
through revaluations since
1867. The current version was
used alongside the previous leu
from March 2005 until June
2006 during the conversion
period. Throughout the leu's
history, it has been pegged to
the currencies of other nations,
such as the German
reichsmark, the American
dollar and the Russian ruble.
The leu notes issued
on 1 July 2005 are of equal
size to euro banknotes, so that
machines will need less
the reverse shows a building or
a well-known monument. All
banknotes are printed on
plastic polymer, each in its
own colour theme (light green
for 1 leu, light purple for 5 lei,
light pink and light orange for
10 lei, yellow for 50 lei, blue
for 100 lei, dark orange for
200 lei, and light gray for 500
lei).
On 14 November
2008 the National Bank of
Romania announced the issue
of a redesigned 10 lei
refitting once Romania joins
the euro zone. This decision
was taken after a lot of debate,
and with some opposition, the
initial decision being to make
them even smaller, similar to
the 1966 series. The old leu
notes were rather long and
fairly uncomfortable to carry.
The design of the
notes follows some common
guidelines: the obverse shows
a flower native to Romania
and the portrait of a Romanian
cultural personality;
banknote.
The new design
employs offset printing in
favor of the intaglio printing
used in the 2005 series. Also
the transparent window will
undergo a shape redesign.
Each banknote also features a
small transparent window, in
the shape of a distinctive item
characterising the activity of
the pictured personality.
SERBIAN
DINAR
 The dinar was first
mentioned way back in the
13th century, but the early
promise came to nought when
the Ottoman Empire swamped
the country and the dinar was
removed from daily existence.
The occupation wouldn’t last
forever (obviously), and post-
Ottoman Serbia found itself
dealing with a host of different
SER currencies. This is no way to
build a stable economy, so
Mihailo Obrenović made the
move to establish a national
currency in 1867.
BIA
The 20th century was
an up and down time for
Serbia to say the least, and the
fortune (or lack of) the dinar
mimicked this rollercoaster
NDI ride. The Yugoslav dinar made
its first appearance in 1920,
coming and going during
World War II before being
established again in 1944.
NAR
The Yugoslav Wars of
the ‘90s did a number on the
dinar, and 1993 saw
hyperinflation reach its manic
height with the printing of the
500 billion dinar note. For the
curious, that is
500,000,000,000 dinars.
Things have thankfully calmed
down since, and the Serbian
dinar returned to use in 2003.
RSD (Serbian Dinar)
is the national currency for the
Republic of Serbia. The
Serbian dinar is divided into
100 paras, and is referred to
with the symbol RSD or
unofficially as the din. Also
known as the post-Yugoslavia
dinar, all of Serbia, except for
Kosovo uses this currency.
Serbia does not participate in
the Euro.
The Serbian Dinar
(RSD) has a long and
complicated history along with
the region that would one day
become the Republic of
Serbia. The country sits at the
crossroads of Europe in the
central Balkans, which has
long been a route for
conquering forces and a key to
controlling the territory.
Serbia, as a country, has
changed control repeatedly,
and the history of the dinar
follows the history of Serbia.
 CZECH
KORUNA
 Koruna is the currency of
the Czech Republic since it was
officially adopted in February 8,
1993 after disintegration from
Czechoslovakia. A koruna is
subdivided into 100 haleru. The
ISO 4217 code for the koruna is
CZK. It is written with the symbol
Kc.
The first coins issued
were of 10, 20 as well as 50 haleru
denominations. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20
along with 50-koruna coins were
also minted. The haleru coins
were made in aluminum while the
coins 1, 2 and 5 korunas were
made of steel that is nickel-plated.
The 10-koruna coin was made of
steel plated with copper, the 20
korunas was in a brass-plated
material while the 50-koruna coin
had a steel center that’s brass-
plated and a steel ring plated with
copper.
K
C
O
The first koruna banknotes
were over-stamped 20, 50, 100, 500 Z
and 1000 Czechoslovak koruna.
Later in 1993 until 1994, new series R
E
were printed in 20, 50, 100, 200, 500,
1000, 2000 as well as 5000
denominations. The said
denominations are in current
circulation except for the 20 korunas U
note which was dropped from
circulation on August 31, 2008. The C
50-koruna note will also be taken out
of circulation beginning April 1, N
2011.
The koruna is translated as H
crown into Czech language.
Exchange rate is currently pegged at
18 korunas against a US dollar.
A
It is said that by 2012, Czech
Republic will adopt the Euro as its
currency. However, considerable
oppositions to the plan have been
present since 2007 causing the delay
of the said adoption.
GEORGIAN
LARI

Recently, the
Georgian National Bank
revealed the winner of the
competition to design a new
symbol for the country’s
national currency, created by
the artist Malkhaz Shvelidze.
Visually, it is reminiscent of
the Georgian letter “L” and an
upside-down euro sign. As the
President of the National Bank
of Georgia, Giorgi Kadagidze
explained, the new symbol will
help popularize the currency
abroad and make the Lari more
recognizable.
The Lari was
introduced in 1995 after a
tumultuous experience with its
predecessor the coupon.
Following the collapse of the
Soviet Union, Georgia
introduced the coupon in April
1993 and experienced one of
the highest rates of inflation
among the post-Soviet
countries.
By 1994 there was an episode
of hyperinflation, during which
the inflation rate reached a
staggering 15,607 percent. The
issue was resolved relatively
quickly after the National
Bank of Georgia conducted a
stabilization program. The
economy first fell to 163
percent inflation in 1995 and
then to single-digit inflation in
1997.
Such events are still
fresh in the minds of most
Georgians, and trust in the
national currency remains low.
Upon its introduction, the Lari
was unofficially pegged to the
dollar in order to generate the
currency’s credibility and
boost its usage. Central banks
often choose this policy after
introducing a new currency.
But in the long run, pegged
currencies prove hard to
maintain.
Despite advances
made in the effort to decrease
the dollarization of the
Georgian economy, more than
GEORGIAN
LARI
of the population still prefers
having their savings deposits
(about 55% in 2013) and loans
(approximately 60% in 2013)
denominated in a foreign
currency. It is also common to
pay for private classes, rent
and even automobile purchases
in dollars, if the purchase is
not through an authorized
company. One of the main
priorities of the National Bank
of Georgia is to increase trust
in the Lari and facilitate the
process of “Larization” of the
economy.
By keeping inflation
low, rates predictable and
prices stable, the NBG is
seeking to increase confidence
in the long-term.
ICELANDIC
KRONA

The Krona is the
official currency of Iceland, an
island country in the North
Atlantic Ocean, situated over
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The
island is volcanically and
geologically active because it
straddles the spreading
boundary of the North American
and European tectonic plates.
ICELANDIC
KRONA
The capital and largest city is
Reykjavík, with the city’s
surrounding areas in the
southwest region of the
country home to two thirds of
the country’s population. The
Króna is composed of 100
aurar, although coins in any
denomination less than one
króna have not circulated since
2003.
The Danish Krone was
introduced in Iceland in 1874,
replacing the earlier Danish
currency, the rigsdaler. In
1885, Iceland began to issue its
own banknotes.
The Iceland Króna
was issued separate from the
Danish Krone after the
dissolution of the
Scandinavian Monetary Union
at the beginning of World War
I, and Iceland’s autonomy
from Denmark in 1918.
The first coins were
issued in 1922, in
denominations of 10 and 25
aurar.
These were followed in 1925
by 1-króna and 2-krónur coins,
and in 1926 by 1-eyrir, 2-aurar
and 5-aurar coins.
In 1946, the design of
all coins was altered to remove
the royal monogram, after
Iceland's independence from
Denmark was precipitated by
Denmarks’ occupation by Nazi
Germany.
In 1981, the Iceland
Krona was revalued, with 100
old krónur (ISJ) valued at 1
new Iceland Krona (ISK).
In 1981, coins were
introduced in denominations of
5, 10 and 50 aurar, 1 króna and
5 krónur. These were followed
by 10 krónur pieces in 1984,
50 krónur in 1987 and 100
krónur in 1995.
As of 1 October 2003,
Icelandic banks no longer
accepted the 5, 10 and 50 aurar
coins.
MACEDONIAN
DENAR
MACEDONIAN DENAR

The Macedonian
Denar is the official currency
of the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia. The
exchange rate of the Denar is
based on the demand and
supply of foreign trade.

Money supply and

interest rates are dictated by
the exchange rate, which is 61
Denars = 1 Euro. With this
exchange rate target,
Macedonia’s Central Bank has
maintained a steady exchange
rate for the Denar against the
Euro.

On April 26, 1992 the

Macedonian Denar was
introduced to replace the
Yugoslav Dinar at par.

On May 5, 1993 a
new Macedonian Denar was
issued; 1 new Denar = 100 old
Denar.
 POUNDS
STERLING
 The British Pound, the
pound sterling, or more
commonly, the pound, is the
currency used in the United
Kingdom.
The pound sterling
holds the title of the oldest
currency still in use today. Its
origins date back to around
760 during the reign of King
Offa of Mercia. King Offa
introduced the silver penny,
which quickly spread in
through the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms and became the
standard coin in what is now
known as England.
The early pennies,
from about 760 to 1158, were
struck from fine silver.
However, in 1158, King Henry
II introduced new coinage
struck from 92.5% silver,
which became known as the
sterling pound.
These new sterling
silver coins were much more
durable than the previous fine
silver coins, which in turn
allowed them to last longer in
circulation.
POUNDS STERLING
It was very common to
break off parts of a penny to
make change, but sometimes
the half penny and farthing
were struck.
British currency was
exclusively silver until the
introduction of the gold noble
in 1344. The percentage of
silver in the coinage continued
to fluctuate throughout the
Tudor reign, but silver
remained the basis for legal
tender. Paper money was
introduced in 1694 and soon
the legal basis changed to gold.
The shilling was introduced in
1487 and the pound in 1489,
both extremely important coins
in the history of the British
Pound.
During the
Napoleonic and Revolutionary
wars, the legal tender was the
notes issued by the Bank of
England and their value was
based on gold. During 1816,
gold was officially adopted as
the standard and silver coinage
was reduced to silver “tokens”,
meaning they were no longer
worth their weight in silver.
As other countries,
during the 19th and 20th
centuries, adopted the gold
standard, it became very easy
to determine conversion rates
between different countries.
This revolutionized trading
and international economy.
While the British
Pound has seen many
variations during the centuries,
it has remained a staple and
oftentimes the strongest
currency in the world. By not
choosing to join the European
Union and adopt the Euro, the
United Kingdom has made a
brave and controversial
decision, but it remains the
highest worth currency in the
world. While its worth does
fluctuate because it is traded
on the free market, it is always
one of the highest value
currencies in the world.
TURKISH
LIRA
 The Turkish lira is the
legal tender in Turkey, a
currency which has suffered
many devaluation processes all
along its history. Proof of this is
that the Guinness Book of
Records classified it as the
world’s least valued currency on
two occasions: between 1995
and 1996, and from 1999 to
2004.
T The Turkish lira was
introduced for the first time as
the official currency of Turkey
U in 1844. It replaced the kurus
which was in circulation at the
L
time and became a subdivision
of the lira.
R From 1844 to 1881 the
lira was based on two systems:
I it was worth 6.61519 grams of
pure gold or 99.8292 grams of
K pure silver, but from 1881 to
1914 the gold standard was
R adopted. During the First World
War Turkey abandoned the gold
standard and the lira went on
I losing value until 1920.
A In 2005, after another
S devaluation of the Turkish lira,
H
From 1844 to 1881 the
lira was based on two systems:
it was worth 6.61519 grams of
pure gold or 99.8292 grams of
pure silver, but from 1881 to
1914 the gold standard was
adopted. During the First World
War Turkey abandoned the gold
standard and the lira went on
losing value until 1920. After
various periods of fixation to the
pound sterling and the French
franc, in 1946 the lira was fixed
to the US dollar on an exchange
rate of TRL 2.80 = USD 1, a
parity maintained until 1960,
when the currency was devalued
to 9 liras to a dollar. After 1970
the lira continued losing value
on a long succession of
exchange rates.
As a consequence of
Turkey’s chronic inflation from
the 1970s to the 1990s, the lira
suffered a severe devaluation.
The ottoman country had high
inflation rates compared to other
developing countries, but had
never suffered hyperinflation
yet.
the New Turkish lira was issued,
which was in circulation until 1
January 2009, when it was again
renamed as “Turkish lira”.
CURRENCY CONVERSION

CURRENCY CONVERSION TO PHILIPPINE

PESO (as of Feb. 17, 2019)
1 Euro 59.23

1 Belarusian Ruble 24.20

1 Bulgarian Lev 30.27

1 Norwegian Krone 6.07

1 Fourth Romanian Leu 12.50

1 Serbian Dinar 0.50

1 Czech Koruna 2.31

1 Georgian Lari 19.90

1 Icelandic Krona 0.44

1 Macedonian Denar 0.96

1 Pounds Sterling 67.61

1 Turkish Lira 9.95