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.
List of highest-valued currency units
As of December 6, 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 | 3.50741 0.285110 |
2.35582 0.424481 |
1 | .100 | 20 |
| 2. |  Bahrain |
dinar | BHD | 2.65245 0.37701 |
1.78161 0.56129 |
0.75624 1.32233 |
.500 | 20 |
| 3. |  Oman |
rial | OMR | 2.59683 0.385085 |
1.74409 0.573366 |
0.74043 1.350570 |
.500 | 50 |
| 4. |  Latvia |
lats [4] | LVL | 2.11848 0.472036 |
1.42287 0.702804 [5] |
0.604615 1.65394 |
2 | 500 |
| 5. |  United Kingdom |
pound [6] | GBP | 1.64805 0.606779 |
1.10666 0.903623 |
0.470607 2.12491 |
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 | 1.60823 0.621802 |
1.07991 0.926 |
0.459329 2.17709 |
|||
| 6. |  European Union (Eurozone) |
euro | EUR | 1.48941 0.671405 |
1 | 0.425349 2.35101 |
2 | 500 |
| 7. |  Jordan |
dinar | JOD | 1.41044 0.709 |
0.946935 1.05604 |
0.402849 2.48232 |
1 | 50 |
| 8. |  Azerbaijan |
manat | AZN | 1.24595 0.8026 |
0.836502 1.19546 |
0.355868 2.81003 |
.50 | 100 |
| 9. |  Cayman Islands |
dollar | KYD | 1.21951 0.820000 |
0.818774 1.22134 |
0.348317 2.87095 |
.25 | 100 |
| 10. |  Cuba |
convertible peso | CUC[7] | 1.046 0.956023 |
0.702311 1.42387 |
0.298759 3.34718 |
5 (rare) 1 (common) |
100 |
| 11. |  United States |
dollar | USD | 1 | 0.671441 1.48933 |
0.28562 3.50116 |
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 | 0.985679 1.01453 |
0.661902 1.5108 |
0.281348 3.55431 |
5 | 1000 |
| 13. |  Canada |
dollar | CAD | 0.948011 1.05484 |
0.636721 1.57055 |
0.270593 3.69559 |
2 | 100 |
| 14. |  Australia |
dollar | AUD | 0.915257 1.09259 |
0.614676 1.62687 |
0.261211 3.82833 |
200 (commem.) 2 |
100 |
| 15. |  Libya |
dinar | LYD | 0.831463 1.2027 |
0.558335 1.79104 |
0.237266 4.21467 |
.500 | 50 |
- ^ 21 August 2008, from Yahoo Finance.
- ^ Floating exchange rate data taken from www.xe.com on December 6, 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.
Mathematical details
- Bold values are defined pegged rate by various authorities
- Exchange rate data was obtained from xe.com
See also
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