MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands Pound among the ten world oldest currencies still circulating

A Falklands coin with the crest of the Overseas Territory, in circulation since 1833

The Falkland Islands pound is listed among the top ten oldest currencies still circulating in the world with the pound Sterling leading the ranking, having taken off back in the Middle Ages sometime in the 800s, according to the World of Statistics.

The pound continues to be the official currency now of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies, and some British Overseas Territories.

The second currency is also in Europe, the Serbian Dinar. It was created in 1214 when Stephen Nemanjić ruled Raška, Serbia’s central medieval state.

In third place is the Russian Ruble from 1300, the official currency of the Russian Federation. As a curious fact, the ruble was also the name of the official currency of the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire, and other states of the Red empire.

Outside the European continent, the fourth-ranked currency is one of the most traded in the world and is found in North America: the United States dollar from 1785, just a few years after the official US Day, 4th July 1776, when the founding fathers declared independence.

Also in the Americas, more precisely in the Caribbean, Statistics points to the Haitian Gourde, from 1813 as the fifth currency still in use. Haiti was the first territory in Latin America to gain independence, in this case insurrected slaves which defeated French colonialists in 1804. Neighboring Dominican Republic and the Dominican Peso 1844, is the seventh.

And the sixth, the Falkland Islands that have their own currency the Falklands pound since 1833.

In eighth place on the list is the Swiss franc 1850, the official currency of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is the only currency denominated in francs left in Europe. The last two oldest currencies from the list are the Canadian dollar, 1871 and the Japanese Yen, 1871.