Non-decimal currencies

Today, only two countries in the world use currencies whose subdivisions are a non-decimal fraction of their main unit. These two countries are Mauritania (1 ouguiya = 5 khoum) and Madagascar (1 ariary = 5 iraimbilanja).

Historic

Historically, the use of decimal subdivions was the exception rather than the rule. Decimalised currencies show an advantage in accounting, they are less advantageous in every day life. A third of a German Gulden (of 60 Kreuzer) is 20 Kreutzer, a third of a Dollar 33.33 cents - if you need coins mostly to pay bread, you might go for the non deciaml currency. A second topic interfered: Fundamental units like the Reichstaler/ Rixdollar/ Rijksdaalder/ Rigsdaler were widely accepted as a medium of accounting - matching different and changing local coins in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Antwerp, or Cologne. Inflation developed locally with changing subdivisions. One thus divided the Riksdaler into 2 silver dalers in Sweden in 1700, the 1715-19 devaluation of the coin changed that ratio, the new calculation was from then onwards to 1776 a division of 1 Riksdaler matching 3 daler silvermint - most currencies mixed units of accounting and units represented by coins and thus created such shifts.

It is hence problematic to give the following list - it is a list of examples picked from different periods. Many of the subdivisions given bellow were sujected to historical changes.

The Ruble is often said to be the first decimalized currency, when Peter the Great established the ratio 1 ruble = 100 kopecks in 1701. The British Pound Sterling was the last major currency to be decimalized, on February 15, 1971. An early attempt at decimalizing the pound was made in the 19th century with 1 Pound = 10 Florins = 100 Dimes = 1000 Cents.

A partial listing of former non-decimal currencies (giving only units of account):

• Ancient Greece - 1 Drachma = 6 Obols
• France - 1 Livre = 20 Sols = 240 Deniers
• German Coins
  • Frankfurt - 1 Reichstaler = 90 Kreutzer = 360 Pfennige OR 1 Reichsgulden = 60 Kreutzer = 240 Pfennige
  • Hannover - 1 Thaler = 36 Mariengroschen = 288 Pfennige
  • Hamburg - 1 Thaler = 3 Marck = 48 Schillinge = 96 Pfennige
• India - 1 Rupee = 16 Annas = 64 Pice = 192 Pies . Also, 1 gold Mohur = 15 silver Rupees
• Japan - separate gold, silver, and copper currencies, but linked during the Edo period
  • Gold: 1 Ryō = 4 Bu = 16 Shu
  • Silver: 1 Momme = 10 Fun = 100 Rin (1 Ryō = 60 Momme? 50 Momme? - I've seen both equivalences given)
  • Copper: 1 Kan = 1000 Mon (1 Ryō = 4000 Mon; hence, 1 Bu = 1 Kan)
• Netherlands - 1 Guilder = 20 Stuivers = 320 Penningen
• Ottoman Empire - 1 Kuru = 40 Para = 120 Akçe
• Poland - 1 Złoty = 30 Groschen
• Roman Empire - 1 Aureus = 25 Denarii = 100 Sestertii = 400 Asses = 1600 Quadrans
• Siam (modern-day Thailand) - 1 Tical = 4 Salung = 8 Fuang = 16 Song phai = 32 Phai = 64 Att = 128 Solot
• Spanish Empire - 1 Peso = 8 Reales = 512 maravedis vellon (? - the quarter-real may have been the smallest coin actually used) (the pesos are the "pieces of eight" often referred to in stories about pirates, such as Treasure Island)
• Switzerland - 1 Gulden Rheinisch = 248 Angster
• The United Kingdom and many countries formerly part of the British Empire - 1 Pound = 20 Shillings = 240 Pence = 960 Farthings. - many named coins existed (see British coinage, but these were the units of account)

See The Marteau Early 18th-Century Currency Converter for non decimal conversion tools (unsing the conversion rates of 1709)

Use The English Apples into Dutch Peers-Converter to calculate with non decimal currencies of your choice and definition.

Fictional non-decimal currencies

• Harry Potter - 1 Galleon = 17 Sickles = 493 Knuts
• Pern - Mark, no name for subdivisions, but occurs in denominations of 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 5, and 10 marks (and a few 100 marks for large transactions)