Currency codes

There are a lot of currencies in use in the world today, and many of them are traded in the forex market. Given how cumbersome writing the name of each currency in full can be, the forex market adopted the use of codes to represent the currencies being traded. But how did these currency codes come into play? what is their origin? These and other questions will be answered in this post.

What are currencies

According to Wikipedia, a currency is any instrument or vehicle that serves as a medium of exchange for goods and services. It is most commonly in the form of banknotes and coins. It is generally accepted as a legal tender in the particular region in which it is in use and its supply is controlled by the government. Basically, a currency is money. With globalization, currencies of different jurisdictions have come to be exchanged for one another due to trade and financial investment giving rise to the forex market.

Humans did not always use currencies for transactions, rather in the early times, barter was the means through which trades were made. With the progression of time, money started to evolve and over the about 3,000 years in which there has been some form of money in use different monetary systems have been in use. These monetary systems are: commodity money, representative money, and fiat money.

The system currently in use around the world is the fiat system, where the value of the currency is not intrinsic (true value) but rather extrinsic (perceived value).

Finally, there are codes for precious metals that are formed by adding the element’s chemical symbol to an “X” prefix. Other currencies that use X are mostly “supranational currencies”.

What are currency codes

Different countries in the world use currencies with many having similar currencies due to colonial influences among other reasons. It then became necessary to differentiate the currencies of different nations. Currency codes by definition are a three-letter code used to represent currencies or precious metals. With the rise of digital currencies, currency codes have also been created for these new currencies.

Origins of currency codes

1978 saw the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publish the ISO 4217 standard which included currency designators and national codes alongside references to minor units. The standard has since undergone a number of amendments following the creation of new currencies, change in currency by countries, etc.

Currency code formation

Most of the currency codes are formed using the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes as the first two letters and the third is usually the initial letter of the currency itself. For example the currency code of the United States dollar is USD – with US being the code for the United States of America and D being the first letter of the dollar.

However, it is important to note that not all the currency codes are formed in this manner with the codes of some currencies being highly mnemonic. An example is the Euro whose code is EUR, with EU standing for the European Union and the appended R from the third letter of the word “euro”. Other examples of this include TRY which is the code for the Turkish lira.

Also, when a new currency is replacing an old currency of the same name, so that the two currencies have distinguished codes, a different third letter must be chosen for the new currency. Examples of this include ZWN, ZWR, and ZWL replacing ZWD as the code for the Zimbabwean dollar which has suffered from massive devaluation over the years necessitating new currencies. another example is MXN that replaced MXP as code for the Mexican peso.

List of currency codes

Code	Num	Currency	Country/Regions
AED	784	United Arab Emirates dirham	United Arab Emirates
AFN	971	Afghan afghani	Afghanistan
ALL	008	Albanian lek	Albania
AMD	051	Armenian dram	Armenia
ANG	532	Netherlands Antillean guilder	Curaçao (CW), Sint Maarten (SX)
AOA	973	Angolan kwanza	Angola
ARS	032	Argentine peso	Argentina
AUD	036	Australian dollar	Australia, Christmas Island (CX),  Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CC), Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HM), Kiribati (KI), Nauru (NR), Norfolk Island (NF), Tuvalu (TV)
AWG	533	Aruban florin	Aruba
AZN	944	Azerbaijani manat	Azerbaijan
BAM	977	Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark	Boania and Herzegovina
BBD	052	Barbados dollar	Barbados
BDT	050	Bangladeshi taka	Bangladesh
BGN	975	Bulgarian lev	Bulgaria
BHD	048	Bahraini dinar	Bahrain
BIF	108	Burundian franc	Burundi
BMD	060	Bermudian dollar	Bermuda
BND	096	Brunei dollar	Brunei
BOB	068	Boliviano	Bolivia
BOV	984	Bolivian Mvdol (fund code)	Bolivia
BRL	986	Brazilian real	Brazil
BSD	044	Bahamian dollar	Bahamas
BTN	064	Bhutanese ngultrum	Bhutan
BWP	072	Botswana pula	Botswana
BYN	933	Belarusian ruble	Belarus
BZD	084	Belize dollar	Belize
CAD	124	Canadian dollar	Canada
CDF	976	Congolese franc	Democratic Republic of the Congo
CHE	947	WIR euro (complentary currency)	Switzerland
CHF	756	Swiss franc	Switzerland, Liechtenstein
CHW	948	WIR franc (complementary currency)	Switzerland
CLF	990	Unidad de Fometo (funds code)	Chile
CLP	152	Chilean peso	Chile
CNY	156	Chinese yuan	China
COP	170	Colombian peso	Colombia
COU	970	Unidad de Valor Real (UVR) (funds code)	Colombia
CRC	188	Costa Rican Colon	Costa Rica
CUC	931	Cuban convertible peso	Cuba
CUP	192	Cuban peso	Cuba
CVE	132	Cape Verdean escudo	Cabo Verde
CZK	203	Czech koruna	Czechia
DJF	262	Djiboutian franc	Djibouti
DKK	208	Danish krone	Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland
DOP	214	Dominican peso	Dominican Republic
DZD	012	Algerian dinar	Algeria
DGP	818	Egyptian pound	Egypt
ERN	232	Eritrean nakfa	Eritrea
ETB	230	Ethiopina birr	Ethiopia
EUR	978	Euro	Eurozone
FJD	242	Fiji dollar	Fiji
FKP	238	Falkland Islands poud	Falkland Islands
GBP	826	Pund sterling	The United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey
GEL	981	Georgian lari	Georgia
GHS	936	Ghanaian cedi	Ghana
GIP	292	Gibraltar pound	Gibraltar
GMD	270	Gambian dalasi	Gambia
GNF	324	Guinean franc	Guinea
GTQ	320	Guatemalan quetzal	Guatemala
GyD	328	Guyanese dollar	Guyana
HKD	344	Hong Kong dollar	Hong Kong
HNL	340	Honduran lempira	Honduras
HRK	191	Croatian kuna	Croatia
HTG	332	Haitian gourde	Haiti
HUF	348	Hungarian forint	Hungary
IDR	360	Indonesian rupiah	Indonesia
ILS	376	Israeli new shekel	Israel
INR	356	Indian rupee	India, Bhutan
IQD	368	Iraqi dinar	Iraq
IRR	364	Iraninan rial	Iran
ISK	352	Icelandic krona	Iceland
JMD	388	Jamaican dollar	Jamaica
JOD	400	Jordanian dinar	Jordan
JPY	392	Japanese yen	Japan
KES	404	Kenyan shilling	Kenya
KGS	417	Kyrgyzstani som	Kyrgyzstan
KHR	116	Cambodian riel	Cambodia
KMF	174	Comoro franc	Comoros
KPW	408	North Korean won	North Korea
KRW	410	South Korean won	South Korea
KWD	414	Kuwaiti dinar	Kuwait
KYD	136	Cayman Islands dollar	Cayman Islands
KZT	398	Kazakhstani tenge	Kazakhstan
LAK	418	Lao kip	Laos
LBP	422	Lebanese pound	Lebanon
LKR	144	Sri Lankan rupee	Sri Lanka
LRD	430	Liberian dollar	Liberia
LSL	426	Lesotho loti	Lesotho
LYD	434	Libyan dinar	Libya
MAD	504	Moroccan dirham	Morocco, Western Sahara
MDL	498	Moldovan leu	Moldova
MGA	969	Malagasy ariary	Madagascar
MKD	807	Macedonian denar	North Macedonia
MMK	104	Myanmar kyat	Myanmar
MNT	496	Mongolian togrog	Mongolia
MOP	446	Macanese pataca	Macau
MRU	929	Mauritanian ouguiya	Mauritania
MUR	480	Mauritian rupee	Mauritius
MVR	462	Maldivian rufiyaa	Maldives
MWK	454	Malawian kwacha	Malawi
MXN	484	Mexican peso	Mexico
MXV	979	Mexican Unidad de Inversion (UDI) (funds code)	Mexico
MYR	458	Malaysian ringgit	Malaysia
MZN	943	Mozambican metical	Mozambique
NAD	516	Namibian dollar	Namibia
NGN	566	Nigerian naira	Nigeria
NIO	558	Nicaraguan cordoba	Nicaragua
NOK	578	Norwegian krone	Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Bouvet Island
NPR	524	Nepalese rupee	Nepal
NZD	554	New Zealand dollar	New Zealand, Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau
OMR	512	Omani rial	Oman
PAB	590	Panamanian balboa	Pananma
PEN	604	Peruvian sol	Peru
PGK	598	Papua New Guinean kina	Papua New Guinea
PHP	608	Philippine peso	Philippines
PKR	586	Pakistani rupee	Pakistan
PLN	985	Polish zloty	Poland
PYG	600	Paraguyan guarani	Paraguay
QAR	634	Qatari riytal	Qatar
RON	946	Romanian leu	Romania
RSD	941	Serbian dinar	Serbia
RUB	643	Russian ruble	Russia
RWF	646	Rwandan franc	Rwanda
SAR	682	Saudi riyal	Saudi Arabia
SBD	090	Solomon Islands dollar	Solomon Islands
SCR	690	Seychelles rupee	Seychelles
SDG	938	Sudanese pound	Sudan
SEK	752	Swedish krona/kronor	Sweden
SGD	702	Singapore dollar	Singapore
SHP	654	Saint Helena pound	Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha
SLL	694	Sierra Leonean leaone	Sierra Leone
SOS	706	Somali shilling	Somalia
SRD	968	Surinamese dollar	Suriname
SSP	728	South Sudanese pound	South Sudan
STN	930	Sao Tome and Pricipe dobra	Sao Tome and Principe
SVC	222	Salvadoran colon	El Salvador
SYP	760	Syrian pound	Syria
SZL	748	Swazi lilangeni	Eswatini
THB	764	Thai baht	Thailand
TJS	972	Tajikistani somoni	Tajiskistan
TMT	934	Turkmenistan manat	Turkmenistan
TND	788	Tunisian dinar	Tunisia
TOP	776	Tongan pa’anga	Tonga
TRY	949	Turkish lira	Trukey
TTD	780	Trinidad and Tobago dollar	Trinidad and Tobago
TWD	901	New Taiwan Dollar	Taiwan
TZS	834	Tanzanian shilling	Tanzania
UAH	980	Ukaranian hryvnia	Ukraine
UGX	800	Ugandan shilling	Uganda
USD	840	United States dollar	United States, American Samoa (AS),  British Indian Ocean Territory (IO) (also uses GBP), British Virgin Islands (VG),  Caribbean Netherlands (BQ – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), Ecuador (EC), El Salvador (SV), Guam (GU), Haiti (HT), Marshall Islands (MH), Federated States of Micronesia (FM), Northern Mariana Islands (MP), Palau (PW),  Panama (PA) (as well as Panamanian Balboa), Puerto Rico (PR), Timor-Leste (TL), Turks and Caicos Islands (TC), U.S. Virgin Islands (VI), United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM)
USN	997	United States dollar (next day) (funds code)	United States
UYI	940	Uruguayan peso en Unidades Indexadas (URUIURUI)(funds code)	Uruguay
UYU	858	Uruguayan peso	Uruguay
UYW	927	Unidad previsional	Uruguay
UZS	860	Uzbekistan som	Uzbekistan
VES	928	Venezuelan bolivar soberano	Venezuela
VND	704	Vietnamese dong	Vietnam
VUV	548	Vanuatu vatu	Vanuatu
WST	882	Samoan tala	Samoa
XAF	950	CFA franc BEAC	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Chad, equatorial Guinea, Gabon.
XAG	961	Silver(one troy ounce)
XAU	959	Gold (one troy ounce)
XCD	951	East Caribbean dollar	Anguilla (AI), Antigua and Barbuda (AG), Dominica (DM), Grenada (GD), Montserrat (MS), Saint Kitts and Nevis (KN), Saint Lucia (LC), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VC)
XOF	952	CFA franc BCEAO	Benin, Burkina FASo, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
XPD	964	Palladium (one troy ounce)
XPF	953	CFP frnc	French Polynesia (PF), New Caledonia (NC), Wallis and Futuna (WF)
XPT	962	Platinum (one troy ounce)
YER	886	Yemeni Rial	Yemen
ZAR	710	South African rand	Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa
ZMW	967	Zmbian kjwacha	Zambia
ZWL	932	Zimbabwean dollar	Zimbabwe

Other codes and currencies

There are other codes that are not ISO 4217 while there are currencies that do not have ISO 4217 codes.

Examples of currencies without ISO 4217 codes are Alderney pound, cook Islands dollar, Faroese krona, Isle of Man pound, and Maltese scudo among others. some currencies also have unofficial codes. Notable examples include CNH (offshore Chinese yuan) and the codes of numerous cryptocurrencies that include BTC (Bitcoin), BCH (Bitcoin Cash), BSV (Bitcoin SV), DASH (Dash), EOS (EOS), ETH (Ether/Ethereum), LTC (Litecoin), BNB (Binance coin), XRP (Ripple), and XMR (Monero) among others.

There are also some official currency codes that are no longer in use for different reasons. Examples of such include ALK (Old Albanian lek) that was used from 1946 to 1965, AFA (Afghan afghani) that was in use from 1925 to 2003, and LUF (Luxembourg franc) that was in use from 1944 to January 1, 1999 among others.

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