Denomination (currency)

Denomination is a proper description of a currency amount, usually for coins or banknotes. Denominations may also be used with other means of payment like gift cards. For example, five euros is the denomination of a five euro note.

In a currency, there is usually a main unit (base), and a subunit that is a fraction of the main unit. In some countries, there are multiple levels of subunits. In the former Ottoman Empire, 1 lira = 100 kuruş = 4000 para = 12000 akçe. Today, only a few places have more than one subunit, notably Chinese speaking regions: the mainland China (renminbi), the Hong Kong (dollar), and Republic of China's (New Taiwan dollar). In addition, the Jordanian dinar is divided into 10 dirham, 100 qirsh/piastres, or 1000 fils. Many countries where Western European languages are spoken currently have their main units divided into 100 subunits. Some currencies that previously had subunits no longer do, because inflation has rendered the subunit useless. A prominent example is the Japanese yen, which was formerly divided into 100 sen or 1000 rin. Both subunits were demonetized at the end of 1953.

Occasionally, a super unit is used as a multiple of the main unit. Examples include Korean won = 5 yang in 1893, Iranian toman 10 rials (used informally today). In the Ottoman Empire, lira and kuruş were super units at some point before becoming the main unit.

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