Listed below is a table of historical exchange rates relative to the
U.S. dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
, at present the most widely traded currency in the world.
[Financial Guid]
FX Fundamentals
Retrieved on July 6, 2007 An
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
represents the value of one
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
in another. An exchange rate between two currencies fluctuates over time. The value of a currency relative to a third currency may be obtained by dividing one U.S. dollar rate by another. For example, if there are ¥120 to the dollar and €1.2 to the dollar then the number of
yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
per
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
is 120/1.2 = 100.
The magnitude of the numbers in the list does not indicate, by themselves, the strength or weakness of a particular currency. For example, the U.S. dollar could be rebased tomorrow so that 1 new dollar was worth 100 old dollars. Then all the numbers in the table would be multiplied by one hundred, but it does not mean all the world's currencies just got weaker. However, it is useful to look at the variation over time of a particular exchange rate. If the number consistently increases through time, then it is a strong indication that the
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
of the country or countries using that currency are in a less robust state than that of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(see e.g., the
Turkish lira
The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''.
History
Ottoman lira (1844–1923)
The lira, along with t ...
). The exchange rates of advanced economies, such as those of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
or
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, against the dollar tend to fluctuate up and down, representing much shorter-term relative economic strengths, rather than move consistently in a particular direction.
The data are taken at varying times of the year or maybe the average for the whole year. Some of the data for the years 1997-2002 refers to the rate on, or close to, January 1 of that year. Some of the data for 2003 refers to rates on May 28 for countries beginning with A-E, and June 2 for countries listed F-Z. Exchange rates can vary considerably even within a year and so current rates may differ markedly from those shown here.
Caveat lector
''Caveat emptor'' (; from ''caveat'', "may he/she beware", a subjunctive form of ''cavēre'', "to beware" + ''ēmptor'', "buyer") is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". It has become a proverb in English. Generally, ''caveat emptor'' is the contrac ...
.
Table for 1850 to 2000
Table for recent years
2020 Exchange rate
USD exchange rate in May 2020 according to XE:
See also
*
Bretton Woods system
The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the United States, Canada, Western European countries, Australia, and Japan after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement. The Bretto ...
for more exchange rates 1945 to 1971
*
Gold standard
A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...
for exchange rates around 1900 for currencies using the gold standard
*
Fixed exchange rates to the euro
*
Currency pair
A currency pair is the dyadic quotation of the relative value of a currency unit against the unit of another currency in the foreign exchange market. The currency that is used as the reference is called the counter currency, quote currency, or ...
*
ISO 4217 currency codes
*
Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency
The following table contains the monthly historical exchange rate of the different currencies of Argentina, expressed in Argentine currency units per United States dollar. The exchange rate at the end of each month is expressed in:
*From Januar ...
Notes
References
Sources
* http://investintaiwan.nat.gov.tw/en/env/stats/exchange_rates.html
* The 2003 data was taken fro
Pacific Exchange Rate Service* The graph back to 1969 was generated using data from th
Reserve Bank of Australia
External links
Historical Exchange Rates (Chart and Table, 1971-present)Foreign Currency Units per 1 U.S. Dollar, 1948 - 2007
{{Finance country lists
Foreign exchange market
Currencies of the United States
Exchange rates, historical
Dollar