Currency history - history of Japanese Yen

The origin of Japanese currency can be traced to the Wu Zhu bronze coin of China, which was introduced under the Han Dynasty around 221 BC. Until the 8th Century the Japanese imported such coins from China. However, in 708 the Japanese government began minting their own silver and copper coins called the Wado Kaichin or Wado Kaiho, which imitated the Chinese Kai Yuan Tong Bao coin's size, shape, and weight.
Approximately 250 years later though, the Japanese government entered into a period of decline and as they could no longer mint their own currency, begun to import Chinese currency again. Over the next few centuries, the inflow of Chinese coins did not meet the demand for a monetary medium that resulted from the growing trade and economic expansion. To meet this demand, two privately minted Japanese coins (from the 14th - 16th century) Toraisen and the Shichusen entered into circulation.
Around the late 15th Century, warlords had accumulated large debts that needed to be paid off, which subsequently encouraged the minting of gold and silver coins known as the Koshu Kin. Under the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Edo Period), gold coinage was made into a standard currency. The Tokugawa Shogunate Government then established a unified monetary system that consisted of these gold coins in addition to silver and copper. Minting took place in the Kinza Gold mints where the present head office of the Bank of Japan now stands.
Although some paper currency had been introduced previously (circa 1600), it was not until the Meiji Restoration that the first nationally accepted paper money was established. The Meiji Government wished to simplify and centralise all the various coins (holding different values) that came about under the Edo Period and thus created the Yen in 1871. The New Currency Act developed a monetary system similar to that of European countries, and made a decimal accounting system of Rin, Sen, and Yen.
Thus the gold standard was adopted and the round-shaped Yen replaced the previous gold and silver coinage. The first national Yen banknotes of the 1870s resembled US banknotes as they were printed by a US company. However, the 153 national banks of Japan of the late 19th century were to lose their authority when the official Bank of Japan was established in 1882.
The yen was introduced in 1872 as part of the modernization of the Japanese currency system. The value of the yen was originally linked directly to that of gold. After extensive devaluation resulting from World War II, the Bretton Woods system linked the yen to the US dollar. In turn, when the US started to abandon strict adherence to the gold standard in the early 1970s, the yen was allowed to float in 1973. However, since 1973, the Japanese government has maintained a policy of currency intervention, and the yen is therefore under a “dirty float” regime.

This intervention continues until today. The Japanese government focuses on a competitive export market, and tries to ensure a low yen value. The Plaza Accord of 1985 temporarily changed this situation and led to a peak value against the US dollar in 1995, effectively increasing the value of Japan’s GDP to almost that of the United States. Since that time, however, the yen has greatly decreased in value. The Bank of Japan maintains a policy of zero to near-zero interest rates and the Japanese government has an extreme anti-inflation policy.
The yen is widely regarded as undervalued, and the Japanese government cannot keep supporting this low level indefinitely. The current situation is very similar to 1998, when low interest rates also created an undervalued yen, and a few global economic shocks - relatively moderate in nature – cause the yen to rapidly appreciate. The increase in value had seriously negative effects on various industries that relied on a cheap yen.

Currency history - history of Canadian dollar

The Canadian Dollar is recognized in the fiscal world by the symbol CAD or simply C$. The gold dollar was first adopted in 1841, when the Province of Canada declared a 'pound' currency equal to one-tenth of the then popular gold Eagle coin. The evaluation then was with 10 U.S. dollars and 5 shillings in local currency. The independent Canadian Dollar was first issued on January 1, 1858. The first independent Canadian Dollar was pegged at par with the U.S. Dollar. Over the next few years, the history of Canadian dollar rates was characterized by fluctuations in the adopted decimal systems across the colonies that united under the Canadian Confederation. While British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island adopted a currency dollar-equivalent to the independent Canadian dollar, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia retained their individual currencies till 1895 and 1871, respectively. Till 1949, there were seven independent currencies, that floated the Canadian fiscal arenas. These included the Canadian pound, Canadian dollar, British Columbia dollar, Newfoundland dollar, New Brunswick dollar, Nova Scotian dollar and the Prince Edward Island dollar. In April, 1871, the federal Parliament passed the Uniform Currency Act and eventually replaced independent currencies within a common Canadian Dollar.
The gold standard that was applicable to the Canadian dollar till the First World War and was eventually abolished in 1933. All through the Second World War, the Canadian dollar witnessed an evaluation at 1.1 C $ = 1 U.S. $. Parity was achieved only in 1946. When the sterling was devalued in 1949, the Canadian dollar returned to the peg applicable during the Second World War. All through 1950, the Canadian Government allowed the dollar to float, before assessing and determining a fixed exchange rate in 1962. The dollar was then pegged at 0.925 U.S. dollars. The fiscal arena also witnessed the use of bronze coins between 1858 and 1859. Between 1908 and 1919, sovereign $5 and $10 coins were issued. In 1942, the tombac replaced nickel, as a war-time measure. Between 1944 and 1945, chromium-plated steel coins were used before the reuse of nickel between 1951 and 1954. Other Canadian coin variants seen throughout the history of Canadian currency include the silver Voyageur dollar, dodecagonal, bimetallic and the cupro-nickel.
Currently, the Canadian Dollar is the seventh most heavily traded currency in the world.

Currency history - history of Italian lira

The lira (plural lire) was the currency of the Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in lire, as no euro coins and notes were available.
The lira was also the currency of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy between 1807 and 1814.
The term originates from the value of a pound weight of high purity silver and as such is a direct cognate of the British pound sterling; in some countries, such as Cyprus and Malta, the words lira and pound were used as equivalents, before the eurowas adopted in 2008 in the two countries. "L", sometimes in a double-crossed script form ("₤"), was usually used as the symbol. Until the Second World War, it was subdivided into 100 centesimi (singular: centesimo), which translates to "one hundredth".
The Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy issued coins between 1807 and 1813 in denominations of 1 and 3 centesimi and 1 soldo in copper, 10 centesimi in 20% silver alloy, 5, 10 and 15 soldi, 1, 2 and 5 lire in 90% silver and 20 and 40 lire in 90% gold. All except the 10 centesimi bore a portrait of Napoleon, with the denominations below 1 lira also showing a radiate crown and the higher denominations, a shield representing the various constituent territories of the Kingdom.
In 1861, coins were minted in Florence, Milan, Naples and Turin in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 50 centesimi, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 lire, with the lowest four in copper, the highest two in gold and the remainder in silver. In 1863, silver coins below 5 lire were debased from 90% to 83.5% and silver 20 centesimi coins were introduced. Minting switched to Rome in the 1870s.
Apart from the introduction in 1894 of cupro-nickel (later nickel) 20 centesimi coins and of nickel 25 centesimi pieces in 1902, the coinage remained essentially unaltered until the First World War.

In 1919, with a purchase power of the lira reduced to 1/5 of that of 1914, the production of all earlier coin types except for the nickel 20 centesimi halted, and smaller, copper 5 and 10 centesimi and nickel 50 centesimi coins were introduced, followed by nickel 1 and 2 lire pieces in 1922 and 1923, respectively. In 1926, silver 5 and 10 lire coins were introduced, equal in size and composition to the earlier 1 and 2 lire coins. Silver 20 lire coins were added in 1927.
In 1936, the last substantial issue of silver coins was made, whilst, in 1939, moves to reduce the cost of the coinage lead to copper being replaced by aluminium bronze and nickel by stainless steel. All issuance of coinage came to a halt in 1943.
In 1951, the government again issued notes, this time simply bearing the title "Repubblica Italiana". Denominations were of 50 and 100 lire (replacing the Bank of Italy notes) and they circulated until coins of these denominations were introduced in the mid 1950s. In 1966, 500 lire notes were introduced (again replacing Bank of Italy notes) which were produced until replaced in 1982 by a coin.
In 1967, 50,000 and 100,000 lire notes were introduced by the Bank of Italy, followed by 20,000 lire in 1975 and 500,000 lire in 1997.

Currency history - history of French franc

The euro replaced the French Franc that had previously been the French currency.
The franc has a long history, dating back to the 14th century - it was introduced by King John II in 1360 and lasted (with a break in the middle) until the euro was introduced in 2002.
The symbol of the currency was simply 'F'.
The franc officially ceased to exist between 1641 and 1795, following its replacement by Louis XIII with the ecu and the Louis d'Or, but the name franc remained in common usage.
The French franc was reintroduced and became decimal in 1795, after the French revolution.
As the value of the franc diminished over the centuries, it was replaced by the 'new' franc in 1960, with 100 old francs being worth one new Franc. The old franc became the valid 'centime' coin after the devaluation of the currency, and continued to be for some years.
Forty years later, many older French still convert prices into 'old francs'. This is complicated for us newcomers who expect to hear a price of, say, 25 euros, and get told the price is 20,000 francs!

Currency history - history of Belgian franc

The franc was the currency of Belgium until 2002 when the euro was introduced into circulation. It was subdivided into 100 centiem (Dutch), centimes (French) or Centime (German).
The conquest of most of western Europe by revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the French franc's wide circulation. In the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), the franc replaced the kronenthaler. This was in turn replaced by the Dutch gulden when the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed.
Following independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the new Kingdom of Belgium in 1832 adopted its own franc, equivalent to the French franc, followed by Luxembourg in 1848 and Switzerland in 1850. Newly-unified Italy adopted the lira on a similar basis in 1862.
In 1865 France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy created the Latin Monetary Union (to be joined by Greece in 1868): each would possess a national currency unit (franc, lira, drachma) worth 4.5 g of silver or 290.322 mg of fine gold, all freely exchangeable at a rate of 1:1. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, a situation which was to continue until 1914.
In 1926, Belgium, as well as France, experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the belga worth 5 francs, and the country's withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year. The belga was tied to the British pound at a rate of 35 belgas (175 francs) = 1 pound and was thus put on a gold standard of 1 belga = 209.211 mg fine gold. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932. In 1935, the Belgian franc was devalued by 28% to 150.632 mg fine gold and the link between the Luxembourg and Belgian francs was revised to 1 Luxembourgish franc = 1¼ Belgian francs.
Following Belgium's occupation by Germany in May, 1940, the franc was fixed at a value of 0.1 Reichsmark, reduced to 0.08 Reichsmark in July, 1940. Following liberation in 1944, the franc entered into the Bretton Woods system, with an initial exchange rate of 43.77 francs = US dollar set on October 5. This was changed to 43.8275 in 1946 and then to 50 following the devaluation of the British pound in September 1949. The Belgian franc was devaluated again in 1982.
Like 10 other European currencies, the Belgian/Luxembourgish franc ceased to exist in January 1, 1999, when it became fixed at 1 EUR= 40.3399 BEF/LUF, thus a franc was worth € 0.024789. Old franc coins and notes lost their legal tender status in February 28, 2002.

Currency history - history of Polish zloty

First Polish coins were struck in second half of X century. Earlier foreign money was used and barter transactions were made; along with Polish coins these two were still used concurrently till XIII century.
The first Polish duke - Mieszko I - begun to issue a silver coin. System was based on 1 pound = 367 grams of silver, of that 240 denars (called thick) were produced. During the political turmoil of XI century these coins lost the value and had to be replaced in the latter half of the century.
The new system was based on 1 grzywna (weight unit) = approx. ? Carolingian (French) pound. The system was 1 grzywna = 4 wiardunki = 24 skojce = 240 denars = 480 halfdenars (obol), but only denars (called thin) were struck. Value of denars was declining due to decreasing content of silver used. The thickness of coins was descending gradually also – in the end of XIII century they were so thin, that the only one side die was used – these were called bracteats (brakteat). Coins were neglected and seen as a way of making high profits for the issuer, therefore they were debased again.
Kazimierz the Great did the next recoinage in XIV century. The new, grosz (grosh) system was based on a European one. 1 Cracovian grzywna = 197 grams of silver = 4 wiarunki = 24 skojce = 48 groszy (grosh) = 96 polgroszy (half grosh) = 96 denars. The gold coinage of Hungary was used in valuable transactions. This system has also been debased. Foreign coins o less value were brought to Poland. Different systems were used in the parts of country – Prussia and Lithuania had completely different coinage. All these factors caused a lot of havoc to the trade.
Thorough reform has been made in 1526 – 1528, the new zloty system was implemented. 1 zloty = 5 szostakow (~six…) = 10 trojakow (~three…) = 30 grosh. 1 grosh = 2 half grosh = 3 szelag = 6 ternars = 18 denars. 1 grosh = 0.77 grams of silver. The system was implemented in Prussia in 1538 and in Lithuania in 1569. Gold ducats of 3.5 grams of gold were struck then. In 1564 silver talars were introduced, the coin was meant to be equal to golden ducat. 1 talar = 5 orts. The system was stable until the beginning of XVII century. When during the reign of Zygmunt III the coins were debased again, also worthless German coins were brought in and took place of melted Polish coins. The crisis occurred strongly after the war with Sweden in the half of XVII century – the coinage was debased even more. In 1659 Boratyni was granted a licence to strike copper szelags, he exceeded the amount agreed in the licence. In 1663 Tymf begun to issue low value zlotys, that consisted half of the silver then in the regal coinage. Those coins were then given an obligatory value over intrinsic one – this situation continued till the end of reign of Saxon elector kings in Poland (1763). During the seven-year war (1756 – 1763) Prussians got the genuine dies and struck fakes of very low intrinsic value.
Another thorough reform had to be made. In 1766 the new coinage was introduced; based on 1 Kolognian grzywna = 233.8 grams of silver = 10 talars = 80 zlotys (after 1786 83.5 zlotys). 1 gold ducat = 16.75 zlotys (after 1786 18 zlotys).
There was an attempt to issue first banknotes during the reign of Stanislaw August (1764 – 1795), it was realised during the uprising of Kosciuszko in 1795 – these were in circulation only for the short period of insurrection.
The previous coinage was continually struck in Warsaw Duchy since 1810.
In 1815 the system has been slightly changed: 1 Kolognian grzywna became 84 zlotys.
In 1834 the Kolognian grzywna has been replaced with Russian pound of 409.5 grams of silver. And double denominations were introduced: 10 zlotys = 1.5 rubles, 1 zloty = 30 grosh = 15 kopeek.
Russian rubles were implemented into circulation in 1842. This system lasted till the end of I World War. In the remaining two other parts of Poland under Prussian and Austrian domination the dominants’ coinages were used respectively.
All three countries introduced gold coin in the latter half of XIX century.
The monetary chaos of I World War lasted till 1922. Although since 1918 the Polish mark was a legal tender still Austrian, German and Russian money was used.
The hyperinflation of after war years was overcame in the 1924 with introduction of new zloty system (denomination structure lasts from then on): 1 zloty = 100 grosh = 0.1687 grams of gold. Before the war Polish zloty has been well stabilised. But the war had ruined the system again.
Germans had issued their own money (although it was based still on the proportion of 1 zloty = 100 grosh) for the General Government (eastern part of area of Poland occupied by German troops).
Polish banknotes were issued in 1945 and coins in 1949 (then under the name of republic of Poland, without Peoples).
Monetary system of socialistic Poland has, on several occasions, suffered from inflation and the governmental steps to fight it. In 1950 there was an unfair cut in peoples’ savings volume – to decrease the amount of money in circulation.
In 1995 there was the last change – the 10,000 old zlotys = 1 new zloty. New banknotes and coins had been issued earlier (since 1990 – coins and 1992 baknotes) but put into circulation on the Jaunary 1st 1995. The new reform brought coins back to life – as since early 1990’s they were non existent in the transactions due to very small value (with some exceptions of 10,000 zlotys and 20,000 zlotys coins that were commemorative but quite common).

Currency history - history of Egyptian Pound

Since the beginning of the circulation of silver and gold coins in Egypt and until 1834, no specified monetary unit existed to serve as a basis for the monetary system. Only a few of the coins were minted locally. In 1834, a Decree was promulgated providing for issuing an Egyptian currency based on a bimetallic base, gold and silver. In 1836 the Egyptian pound was minted and put into circulation.
The Monetary Reform Law issued in 1885 which set gold standard to become the basis for the Egyptian monetary system, and the country had a unified currency, the Egyptian gold pound.
It was permitted to use some foreign gold coins, particularly the Sterling pound, at fixed legal rates. The Sterling gold pound, which was valued at more than its gold content compared to other foreign gold coins, became the main medium of exchange, and the Egyptian monetary system was based on the Sterling gold standard.
In 1898 the National Bank of Egypt was established and was granted, by the government, the privilege to issue Egyptian banknotes, payable in gold for a period of 50 years. The National Bank of Egypt started issuing banknotes on the 3rd of April 1899.
Consequently, the currency circulated in Egypt consisted of gold Sterling pounds and Egyptian banknotes convertible into gold. This situation continued up to 1914 when a special Decree was issued making Egyptian banknotes a legal tender and suspending their convertibility into gold. Thus, the Egyptian pound banknote became the basic currency unit, and the base of the Egyptian monetary system was changed to fiduciary paper money standard. Accordingly, gold coins were no longer used in circulation, with the result that the volume of note issue increased from LE 11.6 million at the end of 1915 to LE 3557.0 million at the end of 1980, and further to LE 38320.0 million at the end of 1999. In 1930, for the first time in the history of Egyptian banknotes, a watermark was used in issued banknotes. This was followed, towards the end of 1968, by using a metallic thread (in notes issued by the Central Bank of Egypt) as a guarantee against counterfeit instead of dependence on complexity of colors .Other features against counterfeit were found in the detailed specifications of each currency. Holograms are currently added to large denomination notes.
In July 1960 the Central Bank of Egypt was established and granted the right of issuing Egyptian banknotes. Several changes were introduced with respect to the watermark, the designs shown on the notes and the colors.
The Central bank of Egypt established a printing plant for banknotes in 1968 instead of printing them abroad. The Bank also served some Arab central banks in printing their banknotes.
In 1977 The Central Bank of Egypt issued notes of 20 and 100 pounds in 1979 and 50 pounds in 1993.