Mauritanian ouguiya

The ouguiya (sign: UM;[6] Arabic: أوقية‎; currency code: MRU[1]), also spelled "ougiya",[7] is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya constitutes five khoums (meaning "one fifth"). As such it is one of two circulating currencies, along with the Malagasy ariary, whose division units are not based on a power of ten.

Mauritanian ouguiya
أوقية موريتانية (Arabic) Ouguiya (French)
ISO 4217
Code	MRU[1]
Denominations
Subunit
​^1⁄5	khoums
Plural	ouguiya
Symbol	UM
Banknotes	50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 ouguiya[2]
Coins
Freq. used	1, 2, 5, 10, 20 ouguiya[3][4]
Rarely used	​^1⁄5 ouguiya
Demographics
User(s)	Mauritania Sahrawi Republic
Issuance
Central bank	Banque Centrale de Mauritanie
Website	www.bcm.mr
Printer	Giesecke & Devrient
Website	www.gi-de.com
Valuation
Inflation	1.5%
Source	The World Factbook,[5] 2016 est.

The current ouguiya was introduced in 2018, replacing the old ouguiya at a rate of 1 new ouguiya = 10 old ouguiya, which in turn replaced the CFA franc at a rate of 1 old ouguiya = 5 francs. The name ouguiya (أوقية) is the Hassaniya Arabic pronunciation of awqiyyah أُوقِية), meaning "ounce".

First Ouguiya (MRO)

Coins

In 1973, coins of ​¹⁄₅ (1 khoums), 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya were introduced into circulation. This was the only year that the khoums was minted, as the ouguiya was worth five CFA Francs a khoums was the equivalent of the franc (which had no subdivision). The most recent issues were in 2003 (1 ouguiya) and 2004 (other denominations). Coins are minted at the Kremnica mint in Slovakia. The coinage slightly changed in 2009, with a reduced 1 ouguiya in plated composition and a bi-metallic 20 ouguiya issued. A bi-metallic 50 ouguiya was issued December 2010.

• 
  Obverse of 1 ouguiya
• 
  Reverse of 1 ouguiya

Banknotes

In 1973, notes were issued by the Central Bank of Mauritania (Banque Centrale de Mauritanie) in denominations of 100, 200 and 1,000 ouguiya. In 1974, a second series of notes was issued in the same denominations, with 500-ouguiya notes added in 1979. Banknotes have been printed by Giesecke & Devrient in Munich, starting with the second issue.

New banknotes were introduced in 2004. These notes have completely new fronts and the vignettes on the backs have been redesigned to accommodate the reduction in size. The 2,000-ouguiya denomination is entirely new.

All but the 100- and 200-ouguiya notes have the denomination expressed in Arabic numerals in a holographic patch at right front. The serial numbers for all denominations now appear horizontally at upper left and lower center, and vertically at far right, all formatted with a 2-character prefix, 7-digit serial number, and 1-character suffix.[8]

An entirely new 5,000-ouguiya denomination dated 28.11.2009 was introduced on 8 August 2010, followed by a redesigned 2,000-ouguiya note dated 28.11.2011 issued on 1 February 2012. [8]

Numismatic information

Within Nouakchott, the nation's capital, most coins are in fine to very fine condition; banknotes of 100 and 200 ouguiya tend to be in poor to fair condition, larger denominations are in fine to extremely fine condition.

The Central Bank is unhelpful in providing new condition coins and banknotes. Some interest in setting up a numismatic program exists, however.

Second ouguiya (MRU)

On December 5, 2017, the Central Bank of Mauritania announced a redenomination of its currency at a rate of 1:10. As part of the redenomination, a new series of coins were issued in denominations of 1 khoums (​¹⁄₅ ouguiya), 1, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya, with the latter being struck as a tri-metallic coin and a new series of banknotes in denominations of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 ouguiya. The new ouguiya banknotes issued for the redenomination are printed entirely in polymer. As a consequence of this change, the ISO Currency Codes for the ouguiya were amended to MRU / 929 and the existing codes of MRO / 478 were retired as per ISO 4217 Amendment Number 165 dated 14 Dec 2017. [9] A 2 ouguiya coin was issued into circulation in 2018, serving as an intermediate denomination for the 1 and 5 ouguiya coins already in circulation.

Banknotes of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017 issues)
Image		Value	Main color	Description		Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse
		50 ouguiya	Violet	Ibn Abbas mosque, Nouakchott	Teapot; musical instruments	November 28, 2017
		100 ouguiya	Green	Tower	Cattle	November 28, 2017
		200 ouguiya	Yellow	Tower	Camels	November 28, 2017
		500 ouguiya	Blue	Tower	Trawler; fish	November 28, 2017
		1,000 ouguiya	Brown	Tower	Locomotive of an ore train	November 28, 2017

Coins of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017-2018 issue)
Image	Value	Technical parameters				Description			Date of first minting
		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse
	​^1⁄5 ouguiya	16.0 mm (0.63 in)	2.0 mm (0.079 in)	2.10 g (0.074 oz)	Copper-plated steel	Plain/Smooth	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	Fish; denomination	2017
	1 ouguiya	19.9 mm (0.78 in)	2.0 mm (0.079 in)	4.00 g (0.141 oz)	Nickel-plated steel	Reeded/grained	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	Teapot; denomination	2017
	2 ouguiya	24.0 mm (0.94 in)		5.65 g (0.199 oz)	Stainless steel	Reeded/grained	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	National instruments; denomination	2018
	5 ouguiya	22.5 mm (0.89 in)	2.0 mm (0.079 in)	4.71 g (0.166 oz)	Nickel-plated steel	Plain/smooth	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	Instruments; denomination	2017
	10 ouguiya	24.0 mm (0.94 in)	1.8 mm (0.071 in)	5.38 g (0.190 oz)	Bi-metallic coin (Nickel-plated steel center with a Brass-plated steel ring)	Segmented (alternating between 10 plain and reeded sections)	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	Cow; denomination	2017
	20 ouguiya	26.0 mm (1.02 in)	2.0 mm (0.079 in)	7.63 g (0.269 oz)	Tri-metallic coin (Bronze-plated steel center plug with a Nickel-plated steel inner ring and a Brass-plated steel outer ring)	Plain/smooth	National seal of Mauritania; denomination	Camels; denomination	2017

Current MRU exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD USD
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD USD
From fxtop.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD USD

See also

• Economy of Mauritania

References

1. "ISO 4217 Amendment Number 165". .currency-iso.org.
2. Billets Archived 2008-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, Banque Centrale de Mauritanie
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-02-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "World Coin News". worldcoinnews.blogspot.com.
5. "The World Factbook". cia.gov.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2011-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Oxford Dictionary of English
8. Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Mauritania". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA.
9. https://www.currency-iso.org/en/shared/amendments/iso-4217-amendment.html

External links

First ouguiya

Preceded by: West African CFA franc Ratio: 1 ouguiya = 5 francs	Currency of Mauritania 1973 – 2017	Succeeded by: Second ouguiya Ratio: 1 second ouguiya = 10 first ouguiya

Second ouguiya

Preceded by: First ouguiya Ratio: 1 second ouguiya = 10 first ouguiya	Currency of Mauritania 2018 –	Succeeded by: Current

• banknotenews.com