The following sections contain information about some of the most common names for currencies. Even though different countries may share the name of their money, their currencies are usually not connected to one another.
Crown
The crown is the monetary unit for several European countries, including Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Norway. It is known as the krona in Sweden, the krone in Norway and Denmark, and the koruna in the Czech Republic.
Dinar
The dinar is the form of currency that is used in a number of Middle Eastern countries. It was first introduced in the late 600s as an “Islamic coinage” by an Umayyad caliph. The term dinar dates from ancient Rome, when it was known as denarius. The dinar is used in Tunisia, Serbia, Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Jordan, and Iraq.
Dollar
The dollar is a currency that is used in many countries. Dollar comes from the word thaler. That was a shortened form of Joachimsthaler, the name of a silver coin first made in 1519. These coins were used in Germany from the 1500s onward. Different spellings were used, including daler, dalar, daalder, and tallero. In 1792 the new country of the United States declared the dollar its monetary unit. Canada adopted the dollar in 1858, Australia in 1966, and New Zealand in 1967. Today, many other countries use the dollar as their currency, including Fiji, Samoa, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Jamaica.
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the European Union (EU). As of 2015, the EU was made up of 28 European countries. Most of these countries adopted the euro as their form of currency once they became members of the EU.
Franc
The first franc was made in 1360. It was a gold coin minted by King John II of France. It contained the phrase Johannes Dei gratia Francorum rex (“John, by the grace of God, king of the Franks”). The coin carried the figure of the king on horseback and was known as the franc à cheval. These gold coins were no longer made after the 1600s, but the name franc continued to be used with the new currency. The franc became the official money of France in 1799. Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg adopted the franc soon after. In 2002, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg stopped using the franc. They began to use the euro, the official currency of the European Union. However, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and most of France’s former colonies still use the franc as their currency. These countries include Benin, Cameroon, French Polynesia, Gabon, and Mali.
Peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines and several Latin American countries. The peso was introduced into Spain by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, who reformed the Spanish currency system in 1497. The peso was then used throughout Spain and its colonies. When the Spanish colonies in the Americas gained independence, most of them kept the peso as their currency. In some cases, the official name was changed, but peso continued to be used in popular speech. Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay use the peso.
Rupee
The rupee is the monetary unit that is used in India and Pakistan. Its name comes from the Sanskrit rupya (“silver”). The rupee was established by rulers of the Mughal dynasty in the late 1500s. The rupee is also the name of the currency used in Mauritius, Nepal, and Seychelles.
