Vietnamese đồng

"VND" redirects here. For other uses, see VND (disambiguation).

Dong

Đồng Việt Nam (in Vietnamese)
ISO 4217
Code	VND
Number	704
Unit
Plural	The language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Symbol	₫/đ‎
Denominations
Superunit
1,000	nghìn (thousand: unit spoken in daily transactions)
1,000,000	triệu (million: unit spoken when talking about large transactions and income)
1,000,000,000	tỷ (billion: very large unit spoken when talking about selling houses)
Subunit
1⁄10	hao
1⁄100	xu both subunits are obsolete due to inflation and have been unused in Vietnam for several decades
Banknotes
Freq. used	1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 500,000 dongs
Rarely used	100, 200, 500 dongs
Coins
Rarely used	200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 dongs (no longer minted or used; still legal tender)
Demographics
User(s)	Vietnam
Issuance
Central bank	State Bank of Vietnam
Website	www.sbv.gov.vn
Valuation
Inflation	2.7% (2019)

The dong (Vietnamese: đồng, Chữ Nôm: 銅) (/dɒŋ/; Vietnamese: [ˀɗɜwŋ͡m˨˩]; sign: ₫ or informally đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the predecessor states of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, having replaced the previously used French Indochinese piastre.

Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hao (hào), which were further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which are now used due to inflation. The Vietnamese dong has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes, with lower denominations printed on paper and denominations over 10,000 dong, worth about 40¢ dollar or euro, printed on polymer, as of 2022 no coins are used. Generally, Vietnam is moving towards digital payments.

As of September 2022, the Vietnamese dong was the third-lowest valued currency unit (behind Venezuelan bolivar and Iranian rial), with one United States dollar equalling around 23,710 dong.

Etymology

The word dong is from the material which the pennies were made (bronze). The term refers to bronze coins used as currency during the dynastic periods of China and Vietnam. The term hao is a loanword from the Chinese háo (Chinese: 毫), meaning a tenth of a currency unit. The term xu comes from French sou. The sign is encoded U+20AB ₫ DONG SIGN.

History

French Indochina

Main article: French Indochinese piastre

The piastre (known in Vietnam as "silver"), was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952.

North Vietnam

Main article: North Vietnamese dong

In 1946, the Viet Minh government (later to become the government of North Vietnam) introduced its own currency, the dong, to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1959; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1,000:1.

South Vietnam

Main article: South Vietnamese dong

South Vietnam 500 dong banknote issued in 1966.

Notes dually denominated in piastres and dong were issued in 1953 for the State of Vietnam, which evolved into South Vietnam in 1954. On 22 September 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to a "liberation dong" worth 500 old Southern dongs.

United Vietnam

After Vietnam was reunified, the dong was also unified, on 3 May 1978. One new dong equalled one Northern dong or 0.8 Southern "liberation" dong.

On 14 September 1985, the dong was revalued, with the new dong worth 10 old dong. This started a cycle of chronic inflation that continued through much of the early 1990s.

Coins

For the earlier modern Vietnamese coins, please see North Vietnamese dong or South Vietnamese dong.

First dong

In 1978, aluminium coins (dated 1976), were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, and 5 hao and 1 dong. The coins were minted by the Berlin mint in the German Democratic Republic and bear the state crest on the obverse and denomination on the reverse. Due to chronic inflation, these coins lost all their relevant value and no coins circulated for many years after this series.

Second dong

Commemorative issues

Commemorative coins in copper, brass, copper-nickel, silver, and gold have been issued since 1986, but none of these have ever been used in circulation.

2003 Issue

The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on December 17, 2003. The new coins, minted by the Mint of Finland, were in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dongs in either nickel-clad steel or brass-clad steel. Prior to its reintroduction, Vietnamese consumers had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. This was also to help the state ease the cost of producing large quantities of small denomination banknotes, which tended to wear easily. Many residents expressed excitement at seeing coins reappear after many years, as well as concern for the limited usefulness of the 200 dong coins due to ongoing inflationary pressures.

Since the launch of the 2003 coin series, the State Bank has had some difficulties with making the acceptance of coins universal despite the partial discontinuation of smaller notes, to the point of some banks refusing coin cash deposits or the cashing in of large numbers of coins. This has prompted laws requiring private and municipal banks to transact and offer services for coins and the full discontinuation of small denomination and cotton-based notes. Also, the coins did not gain popularity from the Vietnamese people. Eventually, State Bank of Vietnam withdrew its distribution in April 2011.

2003 Series

Image	Value	Technical parameters				Description			Date of
		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue
	200 dongs	20 mm	1.45 mm	3.2 g	Nickel-plated steel	Plain	Coat of arms	Denomination	2003	December 17, 2003
File:500 dong.jpg	500 dongs	22 mm	1.75 mm	4.5 g	Nickel-plated steel	Segmented (3 groups)				April 1, 2004
	1,000 dongs	19 mm	1.95 mm	3.8 g	Brass-plated steel	Reeded	Coat of arms	Water Temple, Đô Temple	2003	December 17, 2003
	2,000 dongs	23.5 mm	1.8 mm	5.1 g	Brass-plated steel	Segmented (6 groups)		Highland Stilt house in Tay Nguyen		April 1, 2004
	5,000 dongs	25.5 mm	2.2 mm	7.7 g	Brass (Cu92Al6Ni2)	Micro-scalloped		Một Cột Pagoda (One Pillar Pagoda)		December 17, 2003
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

First dong

In 1978, the State Bank of Vietnam (Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam) introduced notes in denominations of 5 hao, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 dong dated 1976. In 1980, 2 and 10 dong notes were added, followed by 30 and 100 dong notes in 1981. These notes were discontinued in 1985 as they gradually lost value due to inflation and economic instability.

Second dong

In 1985, notes were introduced in denominations of 5 hao, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, and 500 dongs. As inflation became endemic, these first banknotes were followed by 200, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dong notes in 1987, by 10,000 and 50,000 dong notes in 1990, by a 20,000 dong note in 1991, a 100,000 dong note in 1994, a 500,000 dong note in 2003, and a 200,000 dong note in 2006. Banknotes with denominations of 5,000 dong and under have been discontinued from production, but as of 2015 are still in wide circulation.

Five banknote series have appeared. Except for the current series, dated 2003, all were confusing to the user, lacking unified themes and coordination in their designs. The first table below shows the latest banknotes, of 100 dong or higher, prior to the current series. On 7 June 2007, the government ordered cessation of the issuance of the cotton 50,000 and 100,000 dong notes. They were taken out of circulation by 1 September 2007. State Bank of Vietnam 10,000 and 20,000 dong cotton notes are no longer in circulation as of 1 January 2013.

Second dong

Image	Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description		Date of
				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue
	100 dongs	120 × 60 mm	Green	Coat of Arms	Phổ Minh Temple	1991	2 May 1991
	200 dongs	130 × 65 mm	Red	Ho Chi Minh	Agricultural production	1987	30 September 1987
	500 dongs	130 × 65 mm	Red		Port Haiphong	1988	15 August 1989
	1,000 dongs	134 × 65 mm	Green		Lumber productions		20 October 1989
	2,000 dongs	134 × 65 mm	Pink		Textile factory
	5,000 dongs	134 × 65 mm	Blue		Trị An hydropower plant	1991	15 January 1993
	10,000 dongs	140 × 68 mm	Red		Hạ Long Bay	1993	15 October 1994
	20,000 dongs	140 × 68 mm	Blue		Canned food factory	1991	2 March 1993
	50,000 dongs	140 × 68 mm	Green		Nhà Rồng Port	1994	15 October 1994
	100,000 dongs	145 × 71 mm	Brown		Ho Chi Minh's ethnic house		1 September 2000

In 2003 Vietnam began replacing its cotton banknotes with plastic polymer banknotes, claiming that this would reduce the cost of printing. Many newspapers in the country criticized these changes, citing mistakes in printing and alleging that the son of the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam benefited from printing contracts. The government clamped down on these criticisms by banning two newspapers from publishing for a month and considering other sanctions against other newspapers. Even though the 2003 series banknotes listed in the table below have now completely replaced the old notes of the same denominations, as of 2019 the cotton fibre banknotes of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 dongs still remain in wide circulation and are universally accepted.

2003 Polymer Series

Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue
		10,000 dongs	132 × 60 mm	Yellow	Ho Chi Minh	Offshore platform	The first two digits of the serial number give the last two digits of the year of issue.	30 August 2006
		20,000 dongs	136 × 65 mm	Blue		Covered bridge in Hội An		17 May 2006
		50,000 dongs	140 × 65 mm	Pink		Huế		17 December 2003
		100,000 dongs	144 × 65 mm	Green		Temple of Literature		1 September 2004
		200,000 dongs	148 × 65 mm	Red		Hạ Long Bay		30 August 2006
		500,000 dongs	152 × 65 mm	Cyan		Ho Chi Minh's birthplace in Kim Liên		17 December 2003
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

A commemorative polymer 50 dong banknote dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the State Bank of Vietnam was issued in 2001, but its face value is so tiny that it clearly was meant only for collectors. The note is available in three forms, by itself, in a presentation folder or in a presentation folder in an envelope. In 2016, a 100 đồng banknote was issued on cotton-based paper to commemorate the 65th anniversary of central banking.

Bearer's checks 1992–2002

To support the growing industrial need for large money transactions, the State Bank issued "Bearer's Checks" or "State Bank Settlement Checks" (Ngân Phiếu Thanh Toán) in denominations from 100,000 to 5,000,000 dongs. To prevent counterfeiting, these notes had many degrees of protection, their designs were changed every five to six months, and they had expiration dates five or six months after the date of issue. The checks worked until the banking system was upgraded to handle electronic transfers of large amounts of đồng, making most large cash transactions unnecessary.

Other uses of dong

In the Vietnamese language, đồng can be used as a generic term for any currency by adding the name of a country as a qualifier. This practice is more common for more esoteric units of currency.

In present-day Vietnam, when mentioning an amount of money, the currency can be (and usually is) omitted and is replaced by words like "thousand", "million", and "billion".

Exchange rate

Current VND exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR KRW

After the revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar on 1 August 2006, the dong became the least valued currency unit for months. Around 21 March 2007, the revalued Zimbabwean dollar regained least valued currency status (in terms of black market exchange rate), and on 7 September 2007 in terms of official exchange rate. After the use of the Zimbabwean dollar] ceased on 12 April 2009, the dong was the second least valued currency unit after the Iranian rial as of 28 November 2014. Since 19 June 2014, the Vietnamese dong has been devalued a total of five times in an effort to help spur exports and to ensure the stability of the currency.

Year	USD Exchange rate
1960	97
1970	410
1980	2,050
1990	6,500
2000	14,428
2010	19,495
2020	23,173
2022	22,862

(Sources: tradingeconomics.com, imf.org)

See also

• Vietnamese cash
• VND Index
• Economy of Vietnam

References

• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.

External links

• Coins and Banknotes of Vietnam and French Indochina

First dong

Preceded by: North Vietnamese dong Location: North Vietnam Reason: currency unification Ratio: at par	Currency of Vietnam 1978 – 1985 Note: banknotes are dated 1976	Succeeded by: Second dong Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 second dong = 10 first dong
Preceded by: South Vietnamese liberation dong Location: South Vietnam Reason: currency unification Ratio: 1 new dong = 0.8 liberation dong
Preceded by: Moneyless economy Reason: Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia Note: It is unclear whether the North, the South dong, or nothing at all was used after the invasion in January 1980 and before the issuance of a united dong in May	Currency of Cambodia 1978 – 1980 Concurrent with: Thai baht and some other foreign currencies, to some extent	Succeeded by: Cambodian riel Reason: reintroduction of a national currency Ratio: 1 riel = 3  dongs = 0.25 US dollar = 1kg rice

Second dong

Preceded by: First dong Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 second dong = 10 first dongs

Currency of Vietnam 1985 –

Succeeded by: Current