- published: 27 Sep 2015
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The đồng (English pronunciation: /ˈdɒŋ/, Vietnamese: [ɗôŋm]) (sign: ₫; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since May 3, 1978. Issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, it is represented by the symbol "₫". The đồng currently ranks as the second least valuable currency in terms of exchange rate. Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hào, which was further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which is now used.
The word đồng is from the term đồng tiền ("money"), a cognate of the Chinese tóng qián (Traditional Chinese: 銅錢; Simplified Chinese: 铜钱). The term refers to Chinese bronze coins used as currency during the dynastic periods of China and Vietnam. The term hào is a cognate of the Chinese háo (Chinese: 毫), meaning a tenth of a currency unit.
The sign is encoded U+20AB ₫ dong sign (HTML: ₫
).
In 1946, the Viet Minh government (later to become the government of North Vietnam) introduced its own currency, the đồng, to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1958; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1000:1.