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Issued by the Vietnam State Bank, 'Dong' is the currency of Vietnam. Abbreviated
"d" or "VND", dong is subdivided in to 10 hào, which
is further divided into 10 xu. But one should know that hào and xu are
no longer in use in Vietnam. The word "dong" actually means copper or
bronze.
Banknotes issued in Vietnam are of 200 Dong, 500 Dong, 1,000 Dong, 2,000 Dong,
5,000 Dong, 10,000 Dong, 20,000 Dong and 50,000 Dong. The value of Dong has
lost its value in the past years.Earlier 1US $ was equal to 8,000 Dong but since
1995, the rate of 1 US $ is around 11,000 Dong. A close scrutiny shows that
with this low value of a Dong, one can becomea Dong millionaire with just US
$ 100.
It was in 1946, when the first dong was issued in North Vietnam, whereas in
South Vietnam the first dong was issued in 1952. Formerly, both North and South
Vietnam had different exchange rates for a dong but later with the nation's
reunification, the value of dong was also unified in 1978.
With the change in times, the look of the currency of Vietnam too changed.
Paper currency was replaced with plastic polymer banknote currency in 2003.
Although many criticized this change but the government claimed to save money
with this change.
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