World currency

In the foreign exchange market and international finance, a world currency, supranational currency, or global currency refers to a currency that is transacted internationally, with no set borders.

Historical and current world currencies

Spanish dollar (17th – 19th centuries)

In the 17th and 18th century, the use of silver Spanish dollars or "pieces of eight" spread from the Spanish territories in the Americas westwards to Asia and eastwards to Europe forming the first worldwide currency. Spain's political supremacy on the world stage, the importance of Spanish commercial routes across the Atlantic and the Pacific, and the coin's quality and purity of silver helped it become internationally accepted for over two centuries. It was legal tender in Spain's Pacific territories of the Philippines, Micronesia, Guam and the Caroline Islands and later in China and other Southeast Asian countries until the mid-19th century. In the Americas it was legal tender in all of South and Central America (except Brazil) as well as in the US and Canada until the mid-19th century. In Europe the Spanish dollar was legal tender in the Iberian Peninsula, in most of Italy including: Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, the Franche-Comté (France), and in the Spanish Netherlands. It was also used in other European states including the Austrian Habsburg territories.

Iraqi dinar

The Dinar (Arabic pronunciation: [diːˈnɑːr]) (Arabic: دينار, [(sign: د.ع; code: IQD) is the currency of Iraq. It is issued by the Central Bank of Iraq and is subdivided into 1,000 fils (فلس), although inflation has rendered the fils obsolete.

History

The dinar was introduced into circulation in 1932, by replacing the Indian Rupee, which had been the official currency since the British occupation of the country in World War I, at a rate of 1 dinar = 11 rupees. The dinar was pegged at par with the British Pound until 1959 when, without changing its value, the peg was switched to the United States dollar at the rate of 1 dinar = 2.8 dollars. By not following the devaluations of the U.S. currency in 1971 and 1973, the dinar rose to a value of US$3.3778, before a 5 percent devaluation reduced the value of the dinar to US$3.2169, a rate which remained until the Gulf War, although in late 1989, the black market rate was reported at five to six times higher (3 dinars for US$1) than the official rate.

Central Bank of Iraq

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) (Arabic: البنك المركزي العراقي‎) is the central bank of Iraq.

History

After World War I, Iraq's monetary system was administered by the British Mandate of Mesopotamia until 1931, when the Iraq Currency Board was established in London to issue the new Iraqi dinar and maintain its reserves. The Iraq Currency Board pursued a "conservative monetary policy, maintaining very high reserves behind the dinar", which was "further strengthened by its link to the British pound".

In 1949, the currency board was replaced by the National Bank of Iraq, which had been founded two years before on November 16, 1947. The National Bank of Iraq became the Central Bank of Iraq in 1956. Since switching over to its own central bank, the Iraqi monetary system was "replete with mismanagement, coercive stop-gap measures, and the production of an unstable, unreliable currency which ha[d] not been tradable on the international market for [many] years". Saddam Hussein wielded monetary and the dinar as "a powerful instrument of repression".

Currency

A currency (from Middle English: curraunt, "in circulation", from Latin: currens, -entis) in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money (monetary units) in common use, especially in a nation. Under this definition, British pounds, U.S. dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value, and are traded between nations in foreign exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance.

Other definitions of the term "currency" are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the currency systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two monetary systems: fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value (the economy at large vs. the government's physical metal reserves). Some currencies are legal tender in certain political jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value. Digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet.

Bank of Iraq

Bank of Iraq (Arabic: مصرف العراق ‎) is an Iraqi bank, formerly known as Iraqi Socialist Bank. It was founded in 1991 and it is the smallest of the state-owned banks with four branches. Total assets were $8.4 million as of 2003.

See also

References

External links