When the euro is mentioned, most of us picture the European Union. When the American dollar is mentioned, we automatically think of the United States. And when a national currency is mentioned, we expect every country to have its own.
However, none of this is true. The world of money is just as complicated as the world of borders. Some currencies are used by dozens of countries, while others exist for only a few years. Some countries have voluntarily given up their own currency, while elsewhere you can quite commonly carry two or three currencies at once in a single wallet.
The euro isn’t just a European currency
Many will be surprised by the very first fact. Today, 21 member states of the European Union use the euro, but it certainly doesn’t stop at the shores of Europe.
If you fly to French Guiana in South America, you pay in euros. The same applies to Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte, Portuguese Madeira, the Azores, the Spanish Canary Islands, and even Ceuta and Melilla on the African coast. All these territories are part of EU member states and belong to the eurozone.
This means that you can stand in the middle of the Amazon rainforest in French Guiana or on a Caribbean beach in Martinique and pay with the exact same coins we use in Slovakia.
There are also territories that are not part of the European Union, but use the euro based on special agreements. These include Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, and Andorra. Each of these countries can even mint its own euro coins with a national side, which are valid throughout the entire eurozone.
And then there are two very interesting cases – Kosovo and Montenegro. Neither of these countries is a member of the eurozone, nor do they have a monetary agreement with the European Union. Despite this, the euro has been used there for more than twenty years. Both countries decided to adopt the euro unilaterally.
Africa has two currencies, which whole regions use
Many travelers think that when crossing a border, they automatically have to exchange money. In West Africa, this is often not the case.
Eight countries – Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau – use the West African CFA franc.
About three thousand kilometers away, another shared currency is in use – the Central African CFA franc, which is used in Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea.
Interestingly, both currencies have the same exchange rate against the euro, but they are not the same currency. A banknote from Senegal won’t help you in most shops in Gabon, even though it looks very similar at first glance. Both monetary unions originated back during the French colonial era and continue to function today.
The US dollar is not just American
When traveling around the world, you encounter the US dollar much more often than you would expect.
For example, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, East Timor, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau use it as their official currency.
Then there are countries where they have their own currency, but the US dollar is just as important in practice. A typical example is Cambodia. The official currency is the riel, but prices for hotels, transport, or restaurants are often listed in dollars. A tourist pays with a ten-dollar bill and gets change back in riels. The two currencies function side by side completely naturally. Zimbabwe also experienced a similar situation for many years.
The oldest currency in the world
Some currencies emerge alongside new states. Others survive entire empires. The oldest currency still in continuous use today is the British pound sterling. Its history dates back to approximately 775, more than 1,200 years ago. It survived the Vikings, Norman kings, the Industrial Revolution, and the collapse of the British Empire. It is older than most states on today’s world map.
The youngest currency
At the opposite end of the spectrum stands the South Sudanese pound, which was created in 2011 following South Sudan’s declaration of independence. The creation of a new state means not only a new flag and anthem, but also a central bank, banknotes, and coins.
When money loses its value
Probably everyone has heard of the 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwean banknote. Zimbabwe became a symbol of modern hyperinflation. In 2008, prices rose so fast that banknotes lost value literally from day to day. But the historical record belongs to someone else.
The Hungarian currency, the pengő, experienced the highest documented hyperinflation after World War II. In the summer of 1946, prices doubled approximately every fifteen hours, and the government issued a banknote worth 100 quintillion pengő. To this day, it remains the highest denomination banknote ever put into circulation.
