The forgotten 'secret city'
We've been spending money ever since we began earning it. But did you know that some of the best-known currencies still in use today are also among the oldest? In fact, some currencies have been around for centuries. While that says something about the spending power of the nations in question, it also tells us a lot about the monetary policies adopted by governments and their desire to maintain a unique fiscal identity. So, what is the legal tender with the longest lifespan?
Click through and spend time discovering the oldest currencies still in use today.
The 10th oldest currency still in use in the world today is the Canadian dollar. Replacing the Canadian pound in 1858, the Canadian dollar was for 13 years aligned with the US dollar, with British sovereign gold coins also serving as legal tender in the country.
In 1871, the Uniform Currency Act was passed, replacing many different currencies of the provinces with the one national Canadian dollar.
As well as arranging for the printing of notes denominated in dollars, the colonial government was authorized to issue coins in cents. According to tradition, the British monarch, as Canada's head of state, appears on all Canadian currency.
Also in 1871, the yen was officially adopted by Japan as the basic unit of currency. The coin, however, had been first minted in 1869.
The yen was issued after the government suspended the exchange of clan notes, paper money that feudal lords had issued and circulated since the late 16th century.
Today, the Japanese yen is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro.
Before 1850, the franc was the unit of currency of the Helvetic Republic. On May 7, 1850, the Federal Assembly introduced the franc as the monetary unit of Switzerland.
Soon afterwards, the currencies of the Swiss cantons were converted to Swiss francs to achieve monetary parity.
The Swiss franc has historically been considered a safe-haven currency. Its strong appreciation over the past 15 years or so is the key factor in why Switzerland enjoys such a low inflation rate, according to Global Europe.
After gaining independence from its neighbor Haiti in 1844, the Dominican Republic introduced the peso, replacing the Haitian gourde.
Paper money made up the bulk of circulating currency for the first peso, although US notes continued to circulate as the US dollar was officially the national currency.
Today, with exception of the United States dollar, the peso is the only currency that is legal tender in the Dominican Republic.
The Falkland Islands is a British Overseas Territory. The Falklands pound, first issued in 1833, has always been pegged to sterling.
The Falklands pound was introduced following the reassertion of sovereignty in the Falklands Islands by the British in 1833.
While specific issues of banknotes have been made for the Falkland Islands since 1899, coinage comprised shillings and pence until 1974, when new coins were minted for the territory.
The first Haitian gourde was issued in 1813 and replaced the Haitian livre, the French colonial currency.
The first issues of coins were silver pieces of 6, 12, and 25 centimes. Higher denominations in bronze were introduced much later on.
In the late 19th century, the gourde was pegged to the French franc. Later, in 1912, is was pegged to the US dollar, but this peg was also abandoned, in 1989. Today, economic turmoil and political violence has considerably lowered the value of the gourde.
In 1775, the Continental Congress authorized issuance of paper money known as Continental Currency or Continentals, to support the American Revolutionary War.
Ten years later, in 1785, the Continental Congress adopted the "$" mark to define the new currency of the United States of America, the dollar. The symbol evolved from the Spanish American figure for pesos.
Today, the US dollar is also the official currency of several other countries. It plays a major role in global trade and serves as the world's official reserve currency.
With its origins in the 13th century, the ruble ranks third among the oldest currencies in the world still in use. Rubles were first minted as a currency in their own right in the 14th century after becoming the official currency of several small states and kingdoms within the territory of what would later become the Russian Empire.
In the early 18th century, Peter the Great embarked on a series of sweeping monetary reforms that saw all rubles minted with the figure of the reigning emperor or empress.
When the ruble's value plummeted between 1921 and 1923, a new currency, called chervonets, based on gold, replaced the worthless ruble. In 1937, a new series of banknotes in denominations of 1, 3, 5 and 10 chervonets was issued. They were the first to show a portrait of Vladimir Lenin. The Russian ruble today is divided into 100 kopecks. Bank notes are issued in denominations ranging from 5 to 5,000 rubles.
Older even than the Russian ruble is the Serbian dinar. The first mention of this currency also dates back to the 13th century but more precisely, 1214.
Most Serbian rulers, including Stefan Dušan (pictured on this medieval-era dinar), minted their own currency—silver dinar coins that maintained stable value from the early 13th century until the mid-14th century.
The Serbian dinar replaced the Yugoslav dinar in 2003 when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It is the second-oldest currency still in use today. So, what is the oldest?
At around 1,200 years old, the British pound is the world's oldest currency still in use. Also known as the pound sterling, the currency dates back to around 775 CE, during the Anglo-Saxon period, when silver pennies were first minted in what is now England.
The origins of sterling lie in the reign of King Offa of Mercia (757–796). The term derives from the fact that silver coins known as "sterlings" were issued in the Saxon kingdoms.
The gold sovereign came into existence in 1489 under King Henry VII. The coin had a nominal value of one pound sterling, England's first coin to be valued as such.
Sources: (Visual Capitalist) (U.S. Currency Education Program) (Medium) (Global Europe)
See also: Why these European countries don't use the euro as currency
What are the oldest currencies still in use today?
Traditional legal tenders that have endured over time
LIFESTYLE Money
We've been spending money ever since we began earning it. But did you know that some of the best-known currencies still in use today are also among the oldest? In fact, some currencies have been around for centuries. While that says something about the spending power of the nations in question, it also tells us a lot about the monetary policies adopted by governments and their desire to maintain a unique fiscal identity. So, what is the legal tender with the longest lifespan?
Click through and spend time discovering the oldest currencies still in use today.