Tunisian dinar

Tunisian dinar
دينار تونسي  (Tunisian Arabic)

1 Tunisian dinar
ISO 4217
Code TND
Denominations
Subunit
 1/1000 milim or millime
Symbol د.ت (Tunisian Arabic) or DT (Latin)
Banknotes
 Freq. used 5, 10, 20, 50 dinars
Coins
 Freq. used 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 millim, ½, 1, 2, 5 dinars
Demographics
User(s)  Tunisia
Issuance
Central bank Central Bank of Tunisia
 Website www.bct.gov.tn
Valuation
Inflation 4.9%
 Source The World Factbook, 2013 est.

The dinar (Arabic: دينار‎‎, ISO 4217 currency code: TND) is the currency of Tunisia. It is subdivided into 1000 milim or millimes (ملّيم). The abbreviation DT is often used in Tunisia, although writing "dinar" after the amount is also acceptable (TND is less colloquial, and tends to be used more in financial circles); the abbreviation TD is also mentioned in a few places, but is less frequently used, given the common use of the French language in Tunisia, and the French derivation of DT (i.e., Dinar tunisien).

Etymology

The name "dinar" is ultimately derived from the Roman denarius, used in the Africa province, the antic territory of Carthage, modern day Tunisia.[1]

History

The dinar was introduced in 1960, having been established as a unit of account in 1958. It replaced the franc at a rate of 1000 francs = 1 dinar. The dinar did not follow the devaluation of the French franc in 1958, resulting in the exchange rate being abandoned. Instead a peg to the United States dollar of 1 dinar = 2.38 dollars was established which was maintained until 1964, when the dinar devalued to 1 dinar = 1.90 dollars. This second rate was held until the dollar was devalued in 1971.

Tunisia had a historically low inflation. The dinar was less volatile in 2000–2010 than the currencies of its oil-importing neighbors, Egypt and Morocco. Inflation was 4.9% in fiscal year 2007–08 and 3.5% in fiscal year 2008–09.

Coins

In 1960, aluminium 1, 2 and 5 millime and brass 10, 20, 50 and 100 millime coins were introduced. The 1 and 2 millimes were last issued in 1990 and 1983 respectively, and are no longer legal tender. In 1968, nickel ½ dinar coins were introduced, replaced by smaller, cupro-nickel pieces in 1976, when cupro-nickel 1 dinar coins were also introduced. Bimetallic 5 dinar coins were introduced in 2002.

Coins in circulation are [2] (link included current and historic coins and banknotes)

It was on 26 December 2013 that the two new tridecagonal coins were introduced, 200 millimes (copper-zinc, 29 mm diameter, 1.80 mm thickness, 9.4 gr. weight) and 2 dinar (copper-nickel, 29.4 mm diameter, 1.90 mm thickness, 11.2 gr. weight).[3]

Coins in circulation
Image Value
5 millimes
 10 millimes
 20 millimes
 50 millimes
 100 millimes
 200 millimes
 ½ dinar
 1 dinar
 2 dinars
 5 dinars

Banknotes

On 3 November 1958, banknotes were introduced by the Central Bank of Tunisia in denominations of ½, 1 and 5 dinars.[4] The designs of these denominations were changed with a series of notes dated 1-6-1965, but issued on 3 March 1966. A 10-dinar note dated 1-6-1969 was issued on 2 January 1970. The last ½-dinar notes were dated 1973-10-15 whilst the last 1-dinar notes were dated 1980-10-15. 20-dinar notes dated 1980-10-15 were introduced on 26 December 1984. 30-dinar notes were issued between 1997 and 2011. 50-dinar notes dated 2008 were issued on 25 July 2009.[5] On 8 November 2005, an updated version of the frequently used 10-dinar note was issued.

Current Series
Image Value Main Colour Description
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
5 dinars Green Hannibal, Port Punique (Carthage)
5 dinars Green City of Carthage; Carthaginian general, Hannibal wearing a helmet Carthaginian ships
10 dinars Blue Ibn Khaldoun
10 dinars Blue Elissa (Dido) Instituted after the United Nations IT conference in Tunis 2006. Sbeitla temple, satellite dish
10 dinars Blue and Yellow Aboul-Qacem Echebbi Arches of Medesa Bacchia school in Tunis
20 dinars Purple Kheireddine Et-Tounsi
20 dinars Red, blue, and yellow Kheireddine Et-Tounsi, Ksar Ouled Soltane fortified granary in Tataouine district L’École Sadiki (Sadiki College) building in Tunis
50 dinars Green and purple Ibn El Rachiq Kairouani, the City of Culture building Rades bridge over ship canal to Tunis, Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport (formerly Zine el-Abidine ben Ali Airport; renamed after President el-Abidine left the country in 2011)
50 dinars Green, blue, and orange Ibn El Rachiq Kairouani, Musée de la Monnaie (Currency Museum) building in Tunis Place Gouvernement la Kasbah, central square in Tunis

Tunisians sometimes do not use the main division, dinar, when mentioning prices of goods. Accordingly, one dinar and a half, is often referred to as khomstach en miya (literally fifteen hundred). This applies to all prices below 2 dinars. 50 dinar is often referred to as khamsin alf (fifty thousand). This convention is used even for higher prices, for example 70,000 dinars would be called sab'in maliun (seventy million). "Francs" is also still heard from time to time, 1000 of them colloquially representing a single dinar.

Currency restrictions

It is a criminal offence in Tunisia to import or export dinar. Every year, each citizen can convert into foreign currency up to 6,000 Tunisian dinars before departure from the country.[6] Therefore, prices at duty-free shops are in convertible currencies such as euros, US dollars and British pounds. There are many converting ATMs in the country for tourists.

Current TND exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From fxtop.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.monete-romane.com/roman_coins/denarius.html
  2. ↑ http://www.bct.gov.tn/english/musee/ Archived December 12, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Tunisie: Deux nouvelles pièces de monnaie en circulation", Al Huffington Post Maghreb, 26 december 2013
  4. ↑ Linzmayer, Owen (2013). "Tunisia". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.
  5. ↑ Tunisia BanknoteNews.com. Accessed on 2009-09-28.
  6. ↑ Banque Centrale de Tunisie
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