Vietnamese đồng
The đồng (Chữ Nôm: 銅) (; ; sign: ₫ or informally đ; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The đồng was also the currency of the predecessor states of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, having replaced the previously used French Indochinese piastre. Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 "hào", which were further subdivided into 10 "xu", neither of which are now used due to inflation. The Vietnamese đồng has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes, with lower denominations printed on paper and denominations over 10  thousand VND, worth about 1 dollar or euro, printed on polymer, as of 2022 no coins are used. Generally, Vietnam is moving towards digital payments. The Vietnamese đồng is currently the third weakest circulating currency as of May 2021 (behind Venezuelan bolivar and Iranian rial), with one United States dollar equalling around 23 thousand đồng. Etymology. The word đồng is from the material which the pennies were made (bronze), The term refers to Chinese bronze coins used as currency during the dynastic periods of China and Vietnam. The term "hào" is a loanword from the Chinese "háo" (Chinese: 毫), meaning  a tenth of a currency unit. The term "xu" comes from French "sou" meaning "penny". The sign is encoded . History. French Indochina. The piastre (known in Vietnam as "silver"), was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952. North Vietnam. 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 1959; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1,000:1. South Vietnam. Notes dually denominated in piastres and đồng  were issued in 1953 for the State of Vietnam, which evolved into South Vietnam in 1954. On 22 September 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to a "liberation đồng<nowiki>"</nowiki> worth 500 old Southern đồng. United Vietnam. After Vietnam was reunified, the đồng was also unified, on 3 May 1978. One new đồng equalled one Northern đồng or 0.8 Southern "liberation" đồng. On 14 September 1985, the đồng was revalued, with the new đồng worth 10 old đồng. This started a cycle of chronic inflation that continued through much of the  early 1990s. Coins. For the earlier modern Vietnamese coins, please see North Vietnamese đồng or South Vietnamese đồng. First đồng. In 1978, aluminium coins (dated 1976), were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, and 5 hào and 1 đồng. The coins were minted by the Berlin mint in the German Democratic Republic and bear the state crest on the obverse and denomination on the reverse. Due to chronic inflation, these coins lost all their relevant value and no coins circulated for many years after this series. Second đồng. Commemorative issues. Commemorative coins in copper, brass, copper-nickel, silver, and gold  have been issued since 1986, but none of these have ever been used in circulation. 2003 Issue. The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on December 17, 2003. The new coins, minted by the Mint of Finland, were in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 đồng in either nickel-clad steel or brass-clad steel. Prior to its reintroduction, Vietnamese consumers had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. This was also to help the state ease the cost of producing large quantities of small denomination banknotes, which tended to  wear easily. Many residents expressed excitement at seeing coins reappear after many years, as well as concern for the limited usefulness of the 200 đồng coins due to ongoing inflationary pressures. Since the launch of the 2003 coin series, the State Bank has had some difficulties with making the acceptance of coins universal despite the partial discontinuation of smaller notes, to the point of some banks refusing coin cash deposits or the cashing in of large numbers of coins. This has prompted laws requiring private and municipal banks to transact and offer services for coins and the full discontinuation of  small denomination and cotton-based notes. Also, the coins did not gain popularity from the Vietnamese people. Eventually, State Bank of Vietnam withdrew its distribution in April 2011. Banknotes. First đồng. In 1978, the State Bank of Vietnam ("Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam") introduced notes in denominations of 5 hào, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 đồng dated 1976. In 1980, 2 and 10 đồng notes were added, followed by 30 and 100 đồng notes in 1981. These notes were discontinued in 1985 as they gradually lost value due to inflation and economic instability. Second đồng. In 1985, notes  were introduced in denominations of 5 hào, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, and 500 đồng. As inflation became endemic, these first banknotes were followed by 200, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 đồng notes in 1987, by 10,000 and 50,000 đồng notes in 1990, by a 20,000 đồng note in 1991, a 100,000 đồng note in 1994, a 500,000 đồng note in 2003, and a 200,000 đồng note in 2006. Banknotes with denominations of 5,000 đồng and under have been discontinued from production, but as of 2015 are still in wide circulation. Five banknote series have appeared. Except for  the current series, dated 2003, all were confusing to the user, lacking unified themes and coordination in their designs. The first table below shows the latest banknotes, of 100 đồng or higher, prior to the current series. On 7 June 2007, the government ordered cessation of the issuance of the cotton 50,000 and 100,000₫ notes. They were taken out of circulation by 1 September 2007. State Bank of Vietnam 10,000 and 20,000₫ cotton notes are no longer in circulation as of 1 January 2013. In 2003 Vietnam began replacing its cotton banknotes with plastic polymer banknotes, claiming that  this would reduce the cost of printing. Many newspapers in the country criticized these changes, citing mistakes in printing and alleging that the son of the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam benefited from printing contracts. The government clamped down on these criticisms by banning two newspapers from publishing for a month and considering other sanctions against other newspapers. Even though the 2003 series banknotes listed in the table below have now completely replaced the old notes of the same denominations, as of 2019 the cotton fiber banknotes of 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5,000 đồng still remain in  wide circulation and are universally accepted. A commemorative polymer 50-đồng banknote dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the State Bank of Vietnam was issued in 2001, but its face value is so tiny that it clearly was meant only for collectors. The note is available in three forms, by itself, in a presentation folder or in a presentation folder in an envelope. In 2016, a 100-đồng banknote was issued on cotton-based paper to commemorate the 65th anniversary of central banking. Bearer's checks 1992–2002. To support the growing industrial need for large money transactions, the State Bank  issued "Bearer's Checks" or "State Bank Settlement Checks" ("Ngân Phiếu Thanh Toán") in denominations from 100,000 to 5,000,000 đồng. To prevent counterfeiting, these notes had many degrees of protection, their designs were changed every five to six months, and they had expiration dates five or six months after the date of issue. The checks worked until the banking system was upgraded to handle electronic transfers of large amounts of "đồng", making most large cash transactions unnecessary. Other uses of "đồng". In the Vietnamese language, "đồng" can be used as a generic term for any currency by adding the name  of a country as a qualifier. This practice is more common for more esoteric units of currency. In present-day Vietnam, when mentioning an amount of money, the currency can be (and usually is) omitted and is replaced by words like "thousand", "million", and "billion" Exchange rate. After the revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar on 1 August 2006, the đồng became the least valued currency unit for months. Around 21 March 2007, the revalued Zimbabwean dollar regained least valued currency status (in terms of black market exchange rate), and on 7 September 2007 in terms of official exchange rate. After  the use of the Zimbabwean dollar ceased on 12 April 2009, the đồng was the second least valued currency unit after the Iranian rial as of 28 November 2014. Since 19 June 2014, the Vietnamese dong has been devalued a total of five times in an effort to help spur exports and to ensure the stability of the currency. "(Sources: tradingeconomics.com, imf.org)"