Currency of Vietnam

The Vietnamese currency is known as the “Dong” which was introduced on 3rd May 1978. The ISO (International Standardization Organization) code for the Vietnamese Dong is VND. The currency of Vietnam is maintained and regulated by the State Bank of Vietnam. The word “dong” is a derivative of “dong tien”. This is a Chinese term which means money. The first dong coins were created in 1978 in the form of aluminium coins made in the Berlin mint, Germany. In 1986, coins were made using other metals such as copper, silver and even gold. However, these coins were not issued to the masses. On the other hand, the first dong banknotes were issued by the State Bank of Vietnam in 1978 which were updated in 1985. In 1987, ten thousand and fifty thousand dong notes were introduced. Recently, in 2003 and 2006, banknotes for five hundred thousand and two hundred thousand have also been introduced.

Earlier, one dong used to be equal to 10 hao which in turn used to contain 10 xu. Both hao and xu are no longer used in Vietnam. The Vietnamese dong and the Zimbabwean dollar are the two currencies of the world with the least value.