What is the World’s Oldest Currency Still in Use? (2024)

FAQs

What is the World’s Oldest Currency Still in Use? ›

The British pound, the United Kingdom's (UK) currency, is generally accepted as the world's oldest active currency. As currency systems progressed over time, coins and paper notes evolved to support their economies and to encourage trade within the region.

The British pound is the world's oldest currency still in use at around 1,200 years old. Dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, the pound has gone through many changes before evolving into the currency we recognise today. The British pound is both the oldest and one of the most traded currencies​ in the world.

The Mesopotamian civilization developed a large-scale economy based on commodity money. The shekel was the unit of weight and currency, first recorded c. 2150 BC, which was nominally equivalent to a specific weight of barley that was the preexisting and parallel form of currency.

Gold is the oldest form of money still in use today. Gold has been used as a currency for thousands of years, and it remains valuable today because it is relatively scarce and difficult to mine.

All U.S. currency issued since 1861 remains valid and redeemable at full face value.

Swiss banks are famous for their secrecy, but a very public fact about Swiss currency brings new meaning to the term "old money." In 2021, the Guiness Book of World Records named Switzerland's 10 centimes coin, minted since 1879 by Switzerland's Federal Mint (Swissmint) as the "oldest coin design still in circulation."

According to different scholars, the Lydian stater is considered the world's oldest coin still around. Made of a mix of gold and silver called electrum, these early coins were minted around 600 BCE in the kingdom of Lydia in the modern country of Turkey. These coins often featured a lion with a sunburst.

First metal money — coins

In Lydia, coins were made of an alloy of gold and silver called electrum. Lydian staters were the first coins to be officially issued by a government body. Early iterations of coins were also used by ancient Greeks, starting in the late 7th century BC.

Cattle are probably the oldest of all forms of money, as domestication of animals tended to precede the cultivation of crops, and were still used for that purpose in parts of Africa in the middle of the 20th century.

Does old money still exist? ›

In the U.S., families like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers represented early examples of old money. Today, old money families include the Waltons (Walmart), the Disneys (The Walt Disney Company), and the Kochs (Koch Industries).

Jiaozi (Chinese: 交子) was a form of promissory note which appeared around the 11th century in the Sichuan capital of Chengdu, China. Numismatists regard it as the first paper money in history, a development of the Chinese Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE).

Can I still use older-design notes? It is U.S. government policy that all designs of U.S. currency remain legal tender, or legally valid for payments, regardless of when they were issued. This policy includes all denominations of Federal Reserve notes, from 1914 to the present.

Did you know that the Great British Pound (GBP) is the world's oldest currency still in use, dating back 1,264 years ago? Also known as 'sterling', the British pound is the official currency of the United Kingdom (UK), comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The British pound sterling is the oldest currency still in circulation today, dating all the way back to 800 when it took the form of silver pennies. The nickname “pound” originates from the measuring system first used to value the coins. At the time 240 sterling coins weighed one pound.

The $500 was officially discontinued by the U.S. Congress in 1969, although the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) has not printed one since 1945. While it is still a legal tender, a $500 bill could be worth much more than its face value. Today, they are mainly in the collections of numismatists or investors.

In 1948, the first edition of the Chinese yuan renminbi was introduced by the People's Bank of China, with the RMB issued in banknotes only. In 1955, a revaluation happened, resulting in the introduction of the new yuan renminbi at the exchange rate of 1 new yuan to 10,000 old yuan.

1. Kuwaiti dinar. Known as the strongest currency in the world, the Kuwaiti dinar or KWD was introduced in 1960 and was initially equivalent to one pound sterling. Kuwait is a small country that is nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia whose wealth has been driven largely by its large global exports of oil.

1862: The first $100 United States Note was issued. Variations of this note were issued that resulted in slightly different wording (obligations) on the reverse; the note was issued again in Series of 1863. 1863: Both one and two and one half year Interest Bearing Notes were issued that paid 5% interest.

Colonial Coins

The most famous of these was the Spanish Dollar, which served as the unofficial national currency of the colonies for much of the 17th and 18th centuries. With its distinctive design and consistent silver content, the Spanish dollar was the most trustworthy coin the colonists knew.