World's Best Currency

By: bluedevil2k Created:2-17-2008 List Contest: Staff not Eligible

With everyone from Jay-Z to Giselle blowing off the dollar recently, maybe it's time
we start to look around at some other possible world currencies we could use.
There are over 100 different currencies in the world, and each of them differs in
how they are designed, how they look, their materials, their anti-counterfeiting
measures, their history, and of course their value. But, the important question,
would any of them make a suitable replacement for our US dollar?
It's no secret that the US dollar is on a deep decline in value world-wide. Anyone
who's traveled to Europe lately knows how expensive everything has gotten (an $8
pint in Britain?!). With every bad comes a good though, and through traveling
abroad has become difficult for Americans, it has become very cheap for foreigners,
who are bringing their money to spend on US shores (or more accurately, Disney
World). Additionally, US made goods are cheaper to export, increasing business for
exporters. As every economist says, everything must come to an equilibrium, and
economies are self-correcting, so its rational to believe that the US dollar slide will
stop at some point.
Until that time comes though, let's take a look at some of the other world
currencies, and what they have to offer. Every currency has a unique story all its
own, and it's quite interesting to see the history involved in each, and how they
have come to define their nation as a whole .
Here are the world's best currencies...

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16 - China - Yuan

The Chinese monetary denomination is the "Renminbi", which translates to

"people's money". The 20 Yuan bill contains a picture of Mao, and on the left side in
the white area contains a watermark of a lotus flower, which symbolizes purity.
Symbol: CNY
Current exchange rate: $1 = 6.89 CNY
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15 - Israel - Sheqalim
Israel converted its old currency to the "New Sheqel" (1000 old sheqalim = 1 New
sheqel) in 1985 in order to simplify transactions. The old sheqal as a unit of
currency dates back to 3000 BC, making this the oldest form of currency still in
circulation. The word "sheqel" comes from the ancient word for "barley", and was
used a medium for trade in the grain. All currency is produced outside of Israel, as
the country has no mint to make its own money.
Symbol: ILS
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 3.596 ILS
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14 - Kenya - Shillings

Until 2003, all Kenyan notes contained pictures of only Daniel Moi, the
"democratically" elected president of Kenya. However, after Moi stepped down in
2002, notes that were printed in 1978 with the image of Jomo Kenyatta and stored
for 14 years were put back into circulation.
Symbol: Ksh
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 68.96 Ksh
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13 - Egypt - Pounds
Nearly all of Egypt's currency notes show a combination of their expansive history,
including pictures of famous Pharaohs and monuments, and modern Islamic
influences. Locally, 1 billion pounds is termed a "feel", which translates to an
elephant.
Symbol: LE
Current exchange rate: $1 = 5.49 EGP
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12 - South Korea - Won

King Sejong the Great, a 15th century Korean king is depicted on this note, the
lowest in common circulation in Korea. Smaller denominations have predominately
been replaced by coins. The Won is generally regarded as the world's most difficult
to counterfeit, as it contains many difficult to reproduct security features.
Symbol: -
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 946.30-
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11 - Mexico - Pesos

Mexico created the "Nuevo Peso" in 1993, and set 1000 old pesos equal to the
"Nuevo Peso". 3 years later, they removed all old pesos from circulation and
removed the word "Nuevo" from their currency. The currency contains raised
figures to help visually impaired users handle currency, though the figures are not
based on Braille or any standard international blind standard, making their use for
blind foreigners difficult.
Symbol: $
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = $10.759
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10 - Saudi Arabia - Riyals

All Riyals are printed in Arabic on the front, and English on the back and depict the
kings of Saudi Arabia's 109 year history. The riyal is fixed to the US dollar, trading
at 1:3.75 since 1986. This helped stabilize the Saudi economy at the time, as it tied
its own currency to that of its #1 export, oil.
Symbol: SR
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 3.75SR
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9 - South Africa - Rand

South Africa's currency face all contain animals native to South Africa – leopards,
lions, buffalo, elephants, and rhinoceros. Previously, the bank notes contained prior
administrators of South Africa, but this practice was abandoned with the first
democratic election in 1994.
Symbol: R
Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 7.6825R
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8 - Australia - Dollars

Australia was the first country in the world to use plastic instead of paper in 1988.
Now, every note they issue is printed on a polymer plastic, instead of paper or
cotton. The Australian dollar was introduced in 1966 to replace the Australian
pound.

Symbol: AUD

Current exchange rate: $1 = 1.0996 AUD

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7 - Hong Kong - Dollars

Although Hong Kong was ceded from the British to China in 1997, it has maintained
its own form of currency, and has a pegged conversion rate to the Yuan and the US
Dollar. In fact, the Hong Kong Central Bank requires all member banks to maintain
US dollar reserves for every Hong Kong dollar they print for circulation.

Symbol: HK$

Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 7.75 HK$

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6 - Japan - Yen
The orange stamp on the lower left of each bill will glow a fluorescent orange under
UV light, and contains the words "Governor of the Bank of Japan" in ancient
Japanese calligraphy.

Symbol: ¥

Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 106.57¥

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5 - Turkey - Lira
Turkish bills contain images of the 1st President and founder of modern Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He was given the name "Ataturk", which translates as
"father of the Turks" in 1934.

Symbol: TL

Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 1.14TL

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4 - Brazil - Reais
Brazil's currency was established in 1944, and have not changed since their initial
design, except for a redesigned 10 Real note issued for the bicentennial in 2000.
The colonial currency was also named the Real and was in circulation from 1690 to
1942. All faces of the Real contain the same picture, a bust depicting the Republic's
effigy.

Symbol: R$

Current exchange rate: $1 = R$ 1.749

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3 - India - Rupees
India's currency contains 17 languages that are commonly spoken in India, English
and Hindi on the front, and 15 languages on the back. An image of Mahatma Gandhi
is on the front of each denomination of the currency.

Symbol: Rs

Current Exchange Rate: $1 = 37.8Rs

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2 - EU - Euros
The original idea for the name of the currency for the European Union was "ecu",
but Germany was concerned that it sounded too much like the German word for
"cow" (kuh), and was subsequently changed to "euro". The symbol for the Euro, €,
was chosen by popular vote, partly due to its "backwards compatibility". Typists
could type the symbol by typing a capital "C", backspace, and then an "=" sign.

Symbol: €

Current exchange rate: $1 = 0.6809€

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1 - Great Britain - Pounds

The front of every pound contains a picture of Queen Elizabeth, and each
denomination contains the same picture. The reverse of the bills contain famous
British throughout history, often focusing on the arts. Britain used a unique "3 unit"
currency plan until 1971, when they switched to a 2 unit decimal-based currency
plan. This is the source of the common terms "pound, shilling, and penny".

Symbol: £

Current exchange rate: $1 = 0.5099£