ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization or ISO.
The first two letters of the code are the two letters of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (which are similar to those used for national top-level domains on the internet) and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself. So Japan's currency code becomes JPY -- JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the names dollar, franc and pound being used in dozens of different countries, all with wildly differing values.
The standard also defines the relationship between the major currency unit and any minor currency unit. Often, the minor currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but 1/10 or 1/1000 are also common. Some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units setting 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums.
ISO 4217 includes codes for not only currencies, but also codes for precious metals (gold, silver, palladium and platinum; normally measured in troy ounces) and certain other entities used in international finance, e.g. Special Drawing Rights. There are also special codes allocated for testing purposes (XTS), and to indicate no currency transactions (XXX). These codes all begin with the letter "X". ISO 3166 never assigns country codes beginning with "X", so ISO 4217 can use "X" codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes.
Supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO are normally also represented by codes beginning with an "X". However, the Euro is represented by the code EUR; although EU is not an ISO 3166-1 country code, it was used anyway, and in order to do so EU was added to the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list to represent the European Union. The predecessor to the Euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU.
History
In 1973, the ISO Technical Committee 68 decided to develop codes for the representation of currencies and funds for use in any application of trade, commerce or banking. At the 17th session (February 1978) of the related UN/ECE Group of Experts agreed that the three letter alphabetic codes for International Standard ISO 4217, "Codes for the representation of currencies and funds", would be suitable for use in international trade.
Over time, new currencies are created and old currencies are discontinued. Frequently, these changes are due to new governments (through war or a new constitution), treaties between countries standardizing on a currency, or revaluation of the currency due to excessive inflation. As a result, the list of codes must be updated from time to time. The ISO 4217 maintenance agency (MA), the British Standards Institution, is responsible for maintaining the list of codes.
Active codes
- AED United Arab Emirates dirham
- AFA Afghan afghani
- ALL Albanian lek
- AMD Armenian dram
- ANG Netherlands Antillian guilder
- AOA Angolan kwanza
- ARS Argentine peso
- AUD Australian dollar
- AWG Aruban guilder
- AZM Azerbaijani manat
- BAM Bosnia-Herzegovina convertible mark
- BBD Barbadian dollar
- BDT Bangladeshi taka
- BGN Bulgarian lev (since 1999-07-05 )
- BHD Bahraini dinar
- BIF Burundi franc
- BMD Bermuda dollar
- BND Brunei dollar
- BOB Bolivian boliviano
- BOV Bolivian Mvdol (Funds code)
- BRL Brazilian real
- BSD Bahamian dollar
- BTN Bhutan ngultrum
- BWP Botswana pula
- BYR Belarusian ruble
- BZD Belize dollar
- CAD Canadian dollar
- CDF Congolese franc
- CHF Swiss franc
- CLF Chilean Unidades de fomento (Funds code)
- CLP Chilean peso
- CNY Yuan renminbi (PR China)
- COP Colombian peso
- COU Colombian unidad de valor real (added to the COP)
- CRC Costa Rican colón
- CSD Serbian dinar
- CUC Cuban convertible peso (replaced USD as additional national currency in November 2004)
- CUP Cuban peso (still in use)
- CVE Cape Verde escudo
- CYP Cyprus pound
- CZK Czech koruna
- DJF Djibouti franc
- DKK Danish krone
- DOP Dominican peso
- DZD Algerian dinar
- EEK Estonian kroon
- EGP Egyptian pound
- ERN Eritrea nakfa
- ETB Ethiopian birr
- EUR European Union euro
- FJD Fijian dollar
- FKP Falkland Islands pound
- GBP Great British Pound
- GEL Georgian lari
- GGP Guernsey pound
- GHC Ghana cedi
- GIP Gibraltar pound
- GMD Gambian dalasi
- GNF Guinea franc
- GTQ Guatemalan quetzal
- GYD Guyanese dollar
- HKD Hong Kong dollar
- HNL Honduran lempira
- HRK Croatian kuna
- HTG Haitian gourde
- HUF Hungarian forint
- IDR Indonesian rupiah
- ILS New Israeli shekel
- INR Indian rupee
- IQD Iraqi dinar
- IRR Iranian Rial
- ISK Icelandic króna
- JMD Jamaican dollar
- JOD Jordanian dinar
- JPY Japanese yen
- KES Kenyan shilling
- KGS Kyrgyzstan som
- KHR Cambodian riel
- KMF Comoro franc
- KPW North Korean won
- KRW South Korean won
- KWD Kuwaiti dinar
- KYD Cayman Islands dollar
- KZT Kazakhstan tenge
- LAK Lao kip
- LBP Lebanese pound
- LKR Sri Lankan rupee
- LRD Liberian dollar
- LSL Lesotho loti
- LTL Lithuanian litas
- LVL Latvian lat
- LYD Libyan dinar
- MAD Moroccan dirham
- MDL Moldovan leu
- MGA Malagasy ariary
- MKD Macedonian (Former Yug. Rep.) denar
- MMK Myanmar kyat
- MNT Mongolian tugrik
- MOP Macau pataca
- MRO Mauritanian ouguiya
- MTL Maltese lira
- MUR Mauritius rupee
- MVR Maldives rufiyaa
- MWK Malawi kwacha
- MXN Mexican peso
- MXV Mexican Unidad de Inversión (UDI) (Funds code)
- MYR Malaysian ringgit
- MZM Mozambique metical
- NAD Namibian dollar
- NGN Nigerian naira
- NIO Nicaraguan córdoba
- NOK Norwegian krone
- NPR Nepalese rupee
- NZD New Zealand dollar
- OMR Omani rial
- PAB Panamanian balboa
- PEN Peruvian nuevo sol
- PGK Papua New Guinea kina
- PHP Philippine peso
- PKR Pakistani rupee
- PLN Polish zloty
- PYG Paraguayan guaraní
- QAR Qatari rial
- ROL Romanian leu
- RUB Russian ruble
- RWF Rwandan franc
- SAR Saudi Arabian riyal
- SBD Solomon Islands dollar
- SCR Seychelles rupee
- SDD Sudanese dinar
- SEK Swedish krona
- SGD Singapore dollar
- SHP Saint Helena pound
- SIT Slovene tolar
- SKK Slovak koruna
- SLL Sierra Leonean leone
- SOS Somali shilling
- SRD Suriname dollar (since 2004-01-01)
- STD São Tomé and Príncipe dobra
- SVC Salvadoran colón
- SYP Syrian pound
- SZL Swaziland lilangeni
- THB Thai baht
- TJS Tajikistani somoni
- TMM Turkmen manat
- TND Tunisian dinar
- TOP Tongan Pa'anga
- TPE Timor Escudo
- TRY New Turkish lira
- TTD Trinidad and Tobago dollar
- TWD New Taiwan dollar
- TZS Tanzanian shilling
- UAH Ukrainian hryvnia
- UGX Ugandan shilling
- USD United States dollar
- USN United States dollar (Next day) (Funds code)
- USS United States dollar (Same day) (Funds code) (one source claims it is no longer used, but it is still on the ISO 4217-MA list)
- UYU Uruguayan peso
- UZS Uzbekistani som
- VEB Venezuelan bolívar
- VND Viet Nam dong
- VUV Vanuatu vatu
- WST Samoa Tala
- XAF CFA franc BEAC
- XAG Silver ounce
- XAU Gold ounce
- XBA European Composite Unit (EURCO) (Bonds market unit)
- XBB European Monetary Unit (E.M.U.-6) (Bonds market unit)
- XBC European Unit of Account 9 (E.U.A.-9) (Bonds market unit)
- XBD European Unit of Account 17 (E.U.A.-17) (Bonds market unit)
- XCD East Caribbean dollar
- XDR Special Drawing Rights (IMF)
- XFO Gold-franc (Special settlement currency)
- XFU UIC franc (Special settlement currency)
- XOF CFA franc BCEAO
- XPD Palladium ounce
- XPF CFP franc
- XPT Platinum ounce
- XTS Code reserved for testing purposes
- XXX No currency
- YER Yemeni rial
- ZAR South African rand
- ZMK Zambian kwacha
- ZWD Zimbabwe dollar
Obsolete Currency Codes
- ADP Andorran Peseta (replaced by Euro)
- AFN Afghani (replaced by AFA)
- ALK Albanian old lek
- AON Angolan New Kwanza (replaced by AOA)
- AOR Angolan Kwanza Readjustado (replaced by AOA)
- ARP Peso Argentino
- ARY Argentine peso
- ATS Austrian Schilling (replaced by Euro)
- BEC Belgian Franc (convertible)
- BEF Belgian Franc (replaced by Euro)
- BEL Belgian Franc (financial)
- BGJ Bulgarian lev A/52
- BGK Bulgarian lev A/62
- BGL Bulgarian Lev (before 1999-07-05 )
- BOP Bolivian peso
- BRB Brazilian cruzeiro
- BRC Brazilian cruzado
- CNX Chinese People's Bank dollar
- CSJ Czechoslovakia Koruna A/53
- CSK Czechoslovakia Koruna
- DDM Mark der DDR (East Germany)
- DEM Deutsche Mark (replaced by Euro)
- ECS Ecuador Sucre (replaced by USD)
- ECV Ecuador Unidad de Valor Constante (Funds code) (discontinued)
- EQE Equatorial Guinean ekwele
- ESA Spanish Peseta (account A)
- ESB Spanish Peseta (account B)
- ESP Spanish Peseta (replaced by Euro)
- FIM Finnish Markka (replaced by Euro)
- FRF French Franc (replaced by Euro)
- GNE Guinean syli
- GRD Greek Drachma (replaced by Euro)
- GWP Guinea Peso (replaced by XOF)
- IEP Irish Pound (replaced by Euro)
- ILP Israeli pound
- ILR Israeli old shekel
- ISJ Icelandic old krona
- ITL Italian Lira (replaced by Euro)
- LAJ Lao Kip Pot Pol
- LUF Luxembourg Franc (replaced by Euro)
- MAF Mali franc
- MGF Malagasy franc (replaced by MGA)
- MVQ Maldive rupee
- MXP Mexican Peso (replaced by MXN)
- NLG Netherlands Guilder (replaced by Euro)
- PEH Peruvian sol
- PLZ Polish Zloty (replaced by PLN)
- PTE Portuguese Escudo (replaced by Euro)
- ROK Romanian leu A/52
- RUR Russian Ruble (replaced by RUB)
- SRG Suriname Guilder (replaced by SRD)
- SUR Soviet Union Rouble
- TPE Timor Escudo
- TRL Turkish lira (replaced by TRY)
- UGW Ugandan old shilling
- UYN Old Uruguay peso
- VNC Vietnamese old dong
- XEU European Currency Unit (replaced by EUR)
- YDD South Yemeni dinar (replaced by YER)
- YUD New Yugoslavian Dinar (replaced by YUM)
- YUM Yugoslavian Dinar (Serbian dinar - CSD)
- ZAL South African financial rand (Funds code) (discontinued)
- ZRN New Zaire (replaced by CDF)
- ZRZ Zaire (replaced by ZRN, then by CDF)
- ZWC Zimbabwe Rhodesian dollar
See also
External links
