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The 'đồng' (''VND'', IPA: ) is the currency of Vietnam since May 3, 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. It has the symbol ₫. It is subdivided into 10 ''hào''. However, the ''hào'' is now worth so little that it is no longer issued.

Contents

Etymology

History

North Vietnam

South Vietnam

United Vietnam

Coins

First đồng

Second đồng

Banknotes

First đồng

Second đồng

Other uses of đồng

See also

References

External links

Etymology

In Vietnamese, đồng literally means ''copper''. This originates from the practice of minting coins from copper before French colonization. When Vietnam was part of French Indochina, the standard unit of currency was the French Indochinese piastre. The Vietnamese text on these currencies called it the đồng or, less commonly, the ''bạc'' ("silver").

History

North Vietnam

Main articles: North Vietnamese đồng

In 1946, communists in northern Vietnam introduced their own currency, the đồng, which replaced 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.

South Vietnam

Main articles: South Vietnamese đồng

Notes dual denominated in piastre and đồng were issused in 1953 for the use in South Vietnam . On September 22, 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to the "liberation" đồng worth 500 old southern đồng.

United Vietnam

After the nation was reunified, the đồng was also unified, on May 3, 1978. 1 new đồng = 1 northern đồng = 0.8 southern "liberation" đồng.
On September 14, 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 ^[1].

Coins

First đồng

In 1978, aluminium coins (dated 1976), were introduced in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 hào and 1 đồng. Due to chronic inflation, no coins circulated for many years.

Second đồng

The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on 17 December 2003 ^[2]. The new coins were in denominations of 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 đồng. Before that, Vietnamese had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. Many residents expressed excitement of seeing coins for many years, as well as concern for the usefulness of the 200 đồng coins ^[3].

2003 Series
Value	Technical parameters				Description		Date of
	Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue
200₫	20 mm	1.45 mm	3.2 g	Steel plated with nickel	Coat of arms	National designs	2003	17 December 2003
500₫	22 mm	1.75 mm	4.5 g	Steel plated with nickel				1 April 2004
1000₫	19 mm	1.95 mm	3.8 g	Steel plated with a copper-zinc alloy	Coat of arms	Water Temple, Đô Temple	2003	17 December 2003
2000₫	23.5 mm	1.8 mm	5.1 g	Steel plated with a copper-zinc alloy		Ethnic house		1 April 2004
5000₫	25.5 mm	2.2 mm	7.7 g	Copper alloy (CuAl6Ni92)		Chùa Một Cột (One Pillar Pagoda)		17 December 2003

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. In 1980, 2 đồng notes were added, followed by 30 and 100 đồng notes in 1981.

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 took hold, these first banknotes were followed by 200, 1000, 2000 and 5000 đồng notes in 1987, 10,000 and 50,000 đồng in 1990, 20,000 đồng in 1991, 100,000 đồng in 1994, 500,000 đồng in 2003 and 200,000 đồng in 2006.
There have been five banknote series. Except for the current 2003 series, all previous series were rather confusing and did not have a unified design theme. The first table below shows the latest banknotes prior to the 2003 series, 100 đồng or higher.
On June 7, 2007, the government ordered cessation of the issuance of the cotton 50,000 and 100,000₫ notes. They will be taken out of circulation by September 1, 2007.^[4]

Pre-2003 Banknotes in Circulation
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue
		100₫[5]	120 × 59 mm	Brown on green background	National designs	Phổ Minh Pagoda	1991	2 May 1992
		200₫	130 × 65 mm	Orange	Ho Chi Minh	Agricultural production	1987	30 September 1987
		500₫	130 × 65 mm	Pink		Port Haiphong	1988	15 August 1989
		1000₫	134 × 65 mm	Multicolour on lime background		Lumber productions		20 October 1989
		2000₫	134 × 65 mm	Multicolour		Textile factory
		5000₫	134 × 65 mm	Blue		Trị An hydropower plant	1991	15 January 1993
		10,000₫	140 × 68 mm	Red		Halong Bay	1993	15 October 1994
		20,000₫	140 × 68 mm	Blue		Canned food factory	1991	2 March 1993
		50,000₫	140 × 68 mm	Green		Nhà Rồng Port	1994	15 October 1994
		100,000₫	145 × 71 mm	Brown		Uncle Ho's ethnic house		1 September 2000

Since 2003, Vietnam has replaced its cotton banknotes with plastic polymer banknotes, which it claims will save money^[6]. 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 on other newspapers.

2003 Polymer Series[7]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue
		10,000₫	132 × 60mm	Dark brown on greenish yellow	Ho Chi Minh	Offshore platform	First 2 digits of serial	30 August 2006
		20,000₫	136 × 65 mm	Blue		Japanese bridge in Hoi An		17 May 2006
		50,000₫	140 × 65 mm	Pink		Huế		17 December 2003
		100,000₫	144 × 65 mm	Yellowish green		Temple of Literature		1 September 2004
		200,000₫	148 × 65mm	Brownish-red		Halong Bay		30 August 2006
		500,000₫	152 × 65 mm	Cyan-Green		Ho Chi Minh's birthplace in Kim Liên		17 December 2003

A commemorative, polymer 50 đồng banknote of was issued in 2001, however, its face value is so minimal it was meant only for collectors.

Other uses of đồng

In the Vietnamese language, đồng can be used as a generic term for any currency by adding the country name as a qualifier. This practice is more common for more esoteric units of currency. In some overseas Vietnamese-speaking communities, notably Vietnamese Americans, it is used to denote the local currency (USD) and one must refer to VND as ''đồng Việt Nam'' (''Vietnamese đồng''). Similarly, ''hào'' and ''xu'' are occasionally used to translate U.S. "dime" and "cent" respectively into Vietnamese.
In modern-day Vietnam, because of the value of the currency is so small, one đồng could also be understood as one thousand đồng.
After the revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar on 1 August 2006 [1], the đồng became the least valued currency unit. Around March 21, 2007, the revalued Zimbabwean dollar regained least valued currency status (in terms of black market exchange rate, if exists), and the đồng is currently the 2nd least valued currency unit.

See also

★ Economy of Vietnam

References

1. LOC Country Study Vietnam.
2. Technical characteristics of Vietnamese currency State Bank of Vietnam

3. Curious Vietnamese sneak a peek at no-tear notes, coins
4. Đình chỉ lưu hành tiền cotton loại 50.000 đồng và 100.000 đồng State Bank of Vietnam
5. No longer used
6. Vietnam censorship concern grows
7. NGÂN HÀNG NHÀ NƯỚC VIỆT NAM THÔNG BÁO PHÁT HÀNH TIỀN MỚI VÀO LƯU THÔNG


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External links