ISO 4217 Totally Explained

Everything about Iso 4217 totally explained

ISO 4217 is the international standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 4217 code list is the established norm in banking and business all over the world for defining different currencies, and in many countries the codes for the more common currencies are so well known publicly, that exchange rates published in newspapers or posted in banks use only these to define the different currencies, instead of translated currency names or ambiguous currency symbols. ISO 4217 codes are used on airline tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price.
   The first two letters of the code are the two letters of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (which are also used as the basis for national top-level domains on the Internet) and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself. So Japan's currency code becomes JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the names dollar, franc and pound being used in dozens of different countries, each having significantly differing values. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency code's last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. In some cases, the third letter is the initial for "new" in that country's language, to distinguish it from an older currency that was revalued; the code often long outlasts the usage of the term "new" itself. Examples of this include the Mexican peso (MXN) and the Turkish lira (TRY). Other changes can be seen, however; the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB, where the B comes from the third letter in the word "ruble".
   There is also a three-digit code number assigned to each currency, in the same manner as there's also a three-digit code number assigned to each country as part of ISO 3166. This numeric code is usually the same as the ISO 3166 numeric code. For example, USD (US Dollar) has code 840 which is also the numeric code for US (United States).
   The standard also defines the relationship between the major currency unit and any minor currency unit. Often, the minor currency unit has a value that's 1/100 of the major unit, but 1/10 or 1/1000 are also common. Some currencies don't have any minor currency unit at all. In others, the major currency unit has so little value that the minor unit is no longer generally used (for example the Japanese sen, 1/100th of a yen). Mauritania doesn't use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums, and Madagascar has 1 ariary = 5 iraimbilanja. This is indicated in the standard by the currency exponent. For example USD has exponent 2, while JPY has exponent 0.
   ISO 4217 includes codes not only for currencies, but also for precious metals (gold, silver, palladium and platinum; by definition expressed per one troy ounce, as compared to "1 USD") and certain other entities used in international finance, for example Special Drawing Rights. There are also special codes allocated for testing purposes (XTS), and to indicate no currency transactions (XXX). These codes all begin with the letter "X". The precious metals use "X" plus the metal's chemical symbol; silver, for example, is XAG. ISO 3166 never assigns country codes beginning with "X" while these codes are assigned for privately customized use only (reserved, never for official codes), so ISO 4217 can use "X" codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes.
   Supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO are normally also represented by codes beginning with an "X". The euro is represented by the code EUR (EU is included in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list to represent the European Union). The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU.

History

In 1973, the ISO Technical Committee 68 decided to develop codes for the representation of currencies and funds for use in any application of trade, commerce or banking. At the 17th session (February 1978) of the related UN/ECE Group of Experts agreed that the three-letter alphabetic codes for International Standard ISO 4217, "Codes for the representation of currencies and funds", would be suitable for use in international trade.
Over time, new currencies are created and old currencies are discontinued. Frequently, these changes are due to new governments (through war or a new constitution), treaties between countries standardizing on a currency, or revaluation of the currency due to excessive inflation. As a result, the list of codes must be updated from time to time. The ISO 4217 maintenance agency (MA), the British Standards Institution, is responsible for maintaining the list of codes.

Active codes

The following is a list of active codes of official ISO 4217 currency names.

Code	Num		Currency	Locations using this currency
AED	784	2	United Arab Emirates dirham	United Arab Emirates
AFN	971	2	Afghani	Afghanistan
ALL	008	2	Lek	Albania
AMD	051	2	Armenian dram	Armenia
ANG	532	2	Netherlands Antillean guilder	Netherlands Antilles
AOA	973	2	Kwanza	Angola
ARS	032	2	Argentine peso	Argentina
AUD	036	2	Australian dollar	Australia, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard and McDonald Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Norfolk Island, Tuvalu
AWG	533	2	Aruban guilder	Aruba
AZN	944	2	Azerbaijanian manat	Azerbaijan
BAM	977	2	Convertible marks	Bosnia and Herzegovina
BBD	052	2	Barbados dollar	Barbados
BDT	050	2	Bangladeshi taka	Bangladesh
BGN	975	2	Bulgarian lev	Bulgaria
BHD	048	3	Bahraini dinar	Bahrain
BIF	108	0	Burundian franc	Burundi
BMD	060	2	Bermudian dollar (customarily known as Bermuda dollar)	Bermuda
BND	096	2	Brunei dollar	Brunei, Singapore
BOB	068	2	Boliviano	Bolivia
BOV	984	2	Bolivian Mvdol (funds code)	Bolivia
BRL	986	2	Brazilian real	Brazil
BSD	044	2	Bahamian dollar	Bahamas
BTN	064	2	Ngultrum	Bhutan
BWP	072	2	Pula	Botswana
BYR	974	0	Belarussian ruble	Belarus
BZD	084	2	Belize dollar	Belize
CAD	124	2	Canadian dollar	Canada
CDF	976	2	Franc Congolais	Democratic Republic of Congo
CHE	947	2	WIR euro (complementary currency)	Switzerland
CHF	756	2	Swiss franc	Switzerland, Liechtenstein
CHW	948	2	WIR franc (complementary currency)	Switzerland
CLF	990	0	Unidad de Fomento (funds code)	Chile
CLP	152	0	Chilean peso	Chile
CNY	156	2	Renminbi	Mainland China
COP	170	2	Colombian peso	Colombia
COU	970	2	Unidad de Valor Real	Colombia
CRC	188	2	Costa Rican colon	Costa Rica
CUP	192	2	Cuban peso	Cuba
CVE	132	2	Cape Verde escudo	Cape Verde
CZK	203	2	Czech koruna	Czech Republic
DJF	262	0	Djibouti franc	Djibouti
DKK	208	2	Danish krone	Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland
DOP	214	2	Dominican peso	Dominican Republic
DZD	012	2	Algerian dinar	Algeria
EEK	233	2	Kroon	Estonia
EGP	818	2	Egyptian pound	Egypt
ERN	232	2	Nakfa	Eritrea
ETB	230	2	Ethiopian birr	Ethiopia
EUR	978	2	Euro	15 European Union countries, Andorra, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Vatican; see eurozone
FJD	242	2	Fiji dollar	Fiji
FKP	238	2	Falkland Islands pound	Falkland Islands
GBP	826	2	Pound sterling	United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies (the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), certain British Overseas Territories (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and British Indian Ocean Territory)
GEL	981	2	Lari	Georgia
GHS	936	2	Cedi	Ghana
GIP	292	2	Gibraltar pound	Gibraltar
GMD	270	2	Dalasi	Gambia
GNF	324	0	Guinea franc	Guinea
GTQ	320	2	Quetzal	Guatemala
GYD	328	2	Guyana dollar	Guyana
HKD	344	2	Hong Kong dollar	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
HNL	340	2	Lempira	Honduras
HRK	191	2	Croatian kuna	Croatia
HTG	332	2	Haiti gourde	Haiti
HUF	348	2	Forint	Hungary
IDR	360	2	Rupiah	Indonesia
ILS	376	2	Israeli new sheqel	Israel
INR	356	2	Indian rupee	Bhutan, India
IQD	368	3	Iraqi dinar	Iraq
IRR	364	2	Iranian rial	Iran
ISK	352	0	Iceland krona	Iceland
JMD	388	2	Jamaican dollar	Jamaica
JOD	400	3	Jordanian dinar	Jordan
JPY	392	0	Japanese yen	Japan
KES	404	2	Kenyan shilling	Kenya
KGS	417	2	Som	Kyrgyzstan
KHR	116	2	Riel	Cambodia
KMF	174	0	Comoro franc	Comoros
KPW	408	2	North Korean won	North Korea
KRW	410	0	South Korean won	South Korea
KWD	414	3	Kuwaiti dinar	Kuwait
KYD	136	2	Cayman Islands dollar	Cayman Islands
KZT	398	2	Tenge	Kazakhstan
LAK	418	2	Kip	Laos
LBP	422	2	Lebanese pound	Lebanon
LKR	144	2	Sri Lanka rupee	Sri Lanka
LRD	430	2	Liberian dollar	Liberia
LSL	426	2	Loti	Lesotho
LTL	440	2	Lithuanian litas	Lithuania
LVL	428	2	Latvian lats	Latvia
LYD	434	3	Libyan dinar	Libya
MAD	504	2	Moroccan dirham	Morocco, Western Sahara
MDL	498	2	Moldovan leu	Moldova
MGA	969	0.7	Malagasy ariary	Madagascar
MKD	807	2	Denar	Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
MMK	104	2	Kyat	Myanmar
MNT	496	2	Tugrik	Mongolia
MOP	446	2	Pataca	Macau Special Administrative Region
MRO	478	0.7	Ouguiya	Mauritania
MUR	480	2	Mauritius rupee	Mauritius
MVR	462	2	Rufiyaa	Maldives
MWK	454	2	Kwacha	Malawi
MXN	484	2	Mexican peso	Mexico
MXV	979	2	Mexican Unidad de Inversion (UDI) (funds code)	Mexico
MYR	458	2	Malaysian ringgit	Malaysia
MZN	943	2	Metical	Mozambique
NAD	516	2	Namibian dollar	Namibia
NGN	566	2	Naira	Nigeria
NIO	558	2	Cordoba oro	Nicaragua
NOK	578	2	Norwegian krone	Norway
NPR	524	2	Nepalese rupee	Nepal
NZD	554	2	New Zealand dollar	Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Pitcairn, Tokelau
OMR	512	3	Rial Omani	Oman
PAB	590	2	Balboa	Panama
PEN	604	2	Nuevo sol	Peru
PGK	598	2	Kina	Papua New Guinea
PHP	608	2	Philippine peso	Philippines
PKR	586	2	Pakistan rupee	Pakistan
PLN	985	2	Zloty	Poland
PYG	600	0	Guarani	Paraguay
QAR	634	2	Qatari rial	Qatar
RON	946	2	Romanian new leu	Romania
RSD	941	2	Serbian dinar	Serbia
RUB	643	2	Russian ruble	Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia
RWF	646	0	Rwanda franc	Rwanda
SAR	682	2	Saudi riyal	Saudi Arabia
SBD	090	2	Solomon Islands dollar	Solomon Islands
SCR	690	2	Seychelles rupee	Seychelles
SDG	938	2	Sudanese pound	Sudan
SEK	752	2	Swedish krona	Sweden
SGD	702	2	Singapore dollar	Singapore, Brunei
SHP	654	2	Saint Helena pound	Saint Helena
SKK	703	2	Slovak koruna	Slovakia
SLL	694	2	Leone	Sierra Leone
SOS	706	2	Somali shilling	Somalia
SRD	968	2	Surinam dollar	Suriname
STD	678	2	Dobra	São Tomé and Príncipe
SYP	760	2	Syrian pound	Syria
SZL	748	2	Lilangeni	Swaziland
THB	764	2	Baht	Thailand
TJS	972	2	Somoni	Tajikistan
TMM	795	2	Manat	Turkmenistan
TND	788	3	Tunisian dinar	Tunisia
TOP	776	2	Pa'anga	Tonga
TRY	949	2	New Turkish lira	Turkey
TTD	780	2	Trinidad and Tobago dollar	Trinidad and Tobago
TWD	901	2	New Taiwan dollar	Taiwan and other islands that are under the effective control of the Republic of China (ROC)
TZS	834	2	Tanzanian shilling	Tanzania
UAH	980	2	Hryvnia	Ukraine
UGX	800	2	Uganda shilling	Uganda
USD	840	2	US dollar	American Samoa, British Indian Ocean Territory, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guam, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Puerto Rico, Timor-Leste, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, Virgin Islands
USN	997	2	United States dollar (next day) (funds code)	United States
USS	998	2	United States dollar (same day) (funds code) (one source claims it's no longer used, but it's still on the ISO 4217-MA list)	United States
UYU	858	2	Peso Uruguayo	Uruguay
UZS	860	2	Uzbekistan som	Uzbekistan
VEF	937	2	Venezuelan bolívar fuerte	Venezuela
VND	704	2	Vietnamese đồng	Vietnam
VUV	548	0	Vatu	Vanuatu
WST	882	2	Samoan tala	Samoa
XAF	950	0	CFA franc BEAC	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon
XAG	961	.	Silver (one troy ounce)
XAU	959	.	Gold (one troy ounce)
XBA	955	.	European Composite Unit (EURCO) (bond market unit)
XBB	956	.	European Monetary Unit (E.M.U.-6) (bond market unit)
XBC	957	.	European Unit of Account 9 (E.U.A.-9) (bond market unit)
XBD	958	.	European Unit of Account 17 (E.U.A.-17) (bond market unit)
XCD	951	2	East Caribbean dollar	Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
XDR	960	.	Special Drawing Rights	International Monetary Fund
XFU	Nil	.	UIC franc (special settlement currency)	International Union of Railways
XOF	952	0	CFA Franc BCEAO	Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
XPD	964	.	Palladium (one troy ounce)
XPF	953	0	CFP franc	French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna
XPT	962	.	Platinum (one troy ounce)
XTS	963	.	Code reserved for testing purposes
XXX	999	.	No currency
YER	886	2	Yemeni rial	Yemen
ZAR	710	2	South African rand	South Africa
ZMK	894	2	Kwacha	Zambia
ZWD	716	2	Zimbabwe dollar	Zimbabwe

Explanation of USD/USS/USN

The US dollar actually has three codes assigned: USD, USS (same day) and USN (next day). According to UN/CEFACT recommendation 9, paragraphs 8-9 (ECE/TRADE/203, 1996, available online

: � 8. In applications where monetary resources associated with a currency (for example funds) need not be specified and where a field identifier indicating currency is used, the first two (leftmost) characters are sufficient to identify a currency–example: US for United States dollars for general, unspecified purposes where a field identifier indicating currency is present. (A field identifier can be a preprinted field heading in an aligned document or a similarly-agreed application in electronic transmission of data.)

9. In applications where there's a need to distinguish between different types of currencies, or where funds are required as in the banking environment, or where there's no field identifier, the third (rightmost) character of the alphabetic code is an indicator, preferably mnemonic, derived from the name of the major currency unit or fund – example: USD for general, unspecified purposes; USN for United States dollar next-day funds, and USS for funds which are immediately available for Federal Reserve transfer, withdrawal in cash or transfer in like funds (same-day funds). Since there's no need for such a distinction in international trade applications, the funds codes have not been included in the Annex to the present Recommendation.

Without currency code

A number of territories are not included in ISO 4217, because their currencies are not per se an independent currency, but a variant of another currency. These currencies are:

Faroese króna (1:1 pegged to the Danish krone)
Guernsey pound (1:1 pegged to the pound sterling)
Jersey pound (1:1 pegged to the pound sterling)
Isle of Man pound (1:1 pegged to the pound sterling)
Tuvaluan dollar (1:1 pegged to the Australian dollar).
Cook Islands dollar (1:1 pegged to the New Zealand dollar).
Cuban convertible peso (pegged to the US dollar)

The following non-ISO codes are, however, sometimes used commercially:

	Guernsey pound		GGP
	Jersey pound		JEP
	Isle of Man pound		IMP
	Tuvalu dollar		TVD

Obsolete currency codes

A number of currencies were official ISO 4217 currency codes and currency names until their replacement by the euro.
Note that the currency names used below may not match the currency names used in the ISO standard itself, but the codes do match.

Code	Num	Currency	Replaced by	When
Replaced by the euro
ADF	...	Andorran franc (1:1 peg to the French franc)	EUR	1999
ADP	020	Andorran peseta (1:1 peg to the Spanish peseta)	EUR	1999
ATS	040	Austrian schilling	EUR	1999
BEF	056	Belgian franc (currency union with LUF)	EUR	1999
CYP	196	Cypriot pound	EUR	2008
DEM	276	German mark	EUR	1999
ESP	724	Spanish peseta	EUR	1999
FIM	246	Finnish markka	EUR	1999
FRF	250	French franc	EUR	1999
GRD	300	Greek drachma	EUR	2001
IEP	372	Irish pound (punt in Irish language)	EUR	1999
ITL	380	Italian lira	EUR	1999
LUF	442	Luxembourg franc (currency union with BEF)	EUR	1999
MCF	...	Monegasque franc (currency union with FRF)	EUR	1999
MTL	470	Maltese lira	EUR	2008
NLG	528	Netherlands guilder	EUR	1999
PTE	620	Portuguese escudo	EUR	1999
SIT	705	Slovenian tolar	EUR	2007
SML	...	San Marinese lira (currency union with ITL and VAL)	EUR	1999
VAL	...	Vatican lira (currency union with ITL and SML)	EUR	1999
XEU	954	European Currency Unit (1 XEU = 1 EUR)	EUR	1999
Replaced for other reasons
AFA	004	Afghani	AFN	2003
ALK	...	Albanian old lek	ALL
AON	024	Angolan new kwanza	AOR	1995
AOR	982	Angolan kwanza readjustado	AOA	1999
ARM	...	Argentine peso moneda nacional	ARL	1970
ARL	...	Argentine peso ley	ARP	1983
ARP	...	Peso argentino	ARA	1985
ARA	...	Argentine austral	ARS	1991
AZM	031	Azerbaijani manat	AZN	2006
BEC	993	Belgian franc (convertible)
BEL	992	Belgian franc (financial)
BGJ	...	Bulgarian lev A/52	BGK	1952
BGK	...	Bulgarian lev A/62	BGL	1962
BGL	100	Bulgarian lev A/99	BGN	1999
BOP	...	Bolivian peso	BOB	1987
BRB	...	Brazilian cruzeiro novo	BRC	1986
BRC	...	Brazilian cruzado	BRN	1989
BRE	...	Brazilian cruzeiro	BRR	1993
BRN	...	Brazilian cruzado novo	BRE	1990
BRR	...	Brazilian cruzeiro real	BRL	1994
BRZ	...	Brazilian cruzeiro	BRB	1967
CLE	...	Chilean escudo	CLP	1975
CNX	...	Chinese People's Bank dollar	CNY
CSD	891	Serbian dinar	RSD	2006
CSJ	...	Czechoslovak koruna A/53	CSK	1953
CSK	200	Czechoslovak koruna	CZK and SKK	1993
DDM	278	East German Mark of the GDR (East Germany)	DEM
ECS	218	Ecuador sucre	USD	2000
ECV	983	Ecuador Unidad de Valor Constante (funds code) (discontinued)
EQE	...	Equatorial Guinean ekwele	XAF
ESA	996	Spanish peseta (account A)	ESP
ESB	995	Spanish peseta (account B)	ESP
GNE	...	Guinean syli	XOF
GHC	288	Ghanaian cedi	GHS	2007
GWP	624	Guinea-Bissau peso	XOF
ILP	...	Israeli lira	ILR	1980
ILR	...	Israeli old sheqel	ILS	1985
ISJ	...	Icelandic old krona	ISK
LAJ	...	Lao kip	LAK
MGF	450	Malagasy franc	MGA
MKN	...	Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia denar A/93	MKD	1993
MLF	...	Mali franc	XOF
MVQ	...	Maldive rupee	MVR	1981
MXP	...	Mexican peso	MXN
MZM	508	Mozambican metical	MZN	2006
NFD	...	Newfoundland dollar	CAD	1949
PEH	...	Peruvian sol	PEI
PEI	...	Peruvian inti	PEN
PLZ	616	Polish zloty A/94	PLN	1995
RON	...	Romanian leu A/52	ROL	1952
ROL	642	Romanian leu A/05	RON	2005
RUR	810	Russian ruble A/97	RUB	1997
SDD	736	Sudanese dinar	SDG	2007
SRG	740	Suriname guilder	SRD	2004
SUR	...	Soviet Union ruble	RUB	1991
SVC	222	Salvadoran colón	USD
TJR	762	Tajikistan ruble	TJS	2000
TPE	626	Portuguese Timorese escudo	IDR
TRL	792	Turkish lira A/05	TRY	2005
UAK	804	Ukrainian karbovanets	UAH
UGS	...	Ugandan shilling A/87	UGX	1987
UYN	...	Uruguay old peso	UYU
VEB	862	Venezuelan bolívar	VEF	2008
VNC	...	Vietnamese old dong	VND
XFO	...	Gold franc (special settlement currency)	XDR	2003
YDD	720	South Yemeni dinar	YER
YUD	...	New Yugoslav dinar	CSD
YUM	891	Yugoslav dinar	CSD
ZAL	991	South African financial rand (funds code) (discontinued)
ZRN	180	Zaïrean new zaïre	CDF
ZRZ	...	Zaïrean zaïre	ZRN
ZWC	...	Zimbabwe Rhodesian dollar	ZWD

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