Decimal Vs. Non-decimal
A decimal currency is a currency where the ratio between the main unit and the subunit is an integral power of 10. Non-decimal currencies are now rare but had some advantages in daily life transactions. For example, 1 South German Gulden = 60 Kreuzer. 60 can be divided into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 or 30 parts that are still integers, making pricing easy. This advantage (in an age without mechanical or electronic calculators) and the lack of widespread accurate weighing apparatus (meaning an item might sometimes simply be divided in 2,4,6 etc.) coupled with tradition were the reasons why non-decimal currencies were used.
In theory, two countries currently use non-decimal currency: Mauritania (1 ouguiya = 5 khoums) and Madagascar (1 ariary = 5 iraimbilanja). In practice, however, the value of the main unit in each case is so low (less than 1/1000 of a United States dollar) that the sub-unit is not of any practical use and is rarely seen in circulation. In the case of the iraimbilanja, this is a carryover of the Madagascar's previous currency, the Malagasy franc, which had the ariary as a super unit worth 5 francs, and iraimbilanja was an alternate term for the franc. The last major countries to use non-decimal currencies in practice were the United Kingdom (until 1971), Ireland (1971), Malta (1972) and Nigeria (1973).
Read more about this topic: Denomination (currency)
Famous quotes containing the word decimal:
“It makes little sense to spend a month teaching decimal fractions to fourth-grade pupils when they can be taught in a week, and better understood and retained, by sixth-grade students. Child-centeredness does not mean lack of rigor or standards; it does mean finding the best match between curricula and children’s developing interests and abilities.”
—David Elkind (20th century)