Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/circulating-currencies

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Mauritanian ouguiya

Currency of Mauritania


Currency of Mauritania

FieldValue
local_name1أوقية موريتانية
local_name_lang1ar
local_name2Ouguiya
local_name_lang2fr
image_title_1Current coins
iso_codeMRU
iso_commentbefore 2017:
iso_ref
using_countries
Western Sahara Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
inflation_rate2.2%
inflation_source_dateThe World Factbook, 2019 est.
subunit_ratio_1
pluralouguiya
subunit_name_1khoums
symbolUM
frequently_used_coins1, 2, 5, 10, 20 ouguiya
rarely_used_coins1 khoums
used_banknotes20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 ouguiya
issuing_authorityBanque Centrale de Mauritanie
issuing_authority_website
printerCanadian Bank Note Company
printer_website

Western Sahara Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The ouguiya ( (); sign: UM; code: MRU), at one time spelled "ougiya", is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya constitutes five khoums (meaning "one fifth").

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 uqiyyah أُوقِية), meaning "(Roman) ounce".

{{anchor|MRO}}First Ouguiya (MRO)

Coins

In 1973, coins of (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.

image:Ouguiya 1.png|Obverse of 1 ouguiya coin, made of Aluminium bronze. image:Ouguiya 2.png|Reverse of 1 ouguiya coin, made of Aluminium bronze.

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 and new coins 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.

An entirely new 5,000-ouguiya denomination dated 28 November 2009 was introduced on 8 August 2010, followed by a redesigned 2,000-ouguiya note dated 28 November 2011 issued on 1 February 2012.

{{anchor|MRU}}Second ouguiya (MRU)

On 5 December 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 ( 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 December 2017. 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. On 28 November 2021, the Central Bank of Mauritania issued a 20 ouguiya banknote, co-circulating with the coin of the same denomination in circulation. On 15 June 2023, the Central Bank of Mauritania issued a new 50 ouguiya banknote in celebration of 50 years of the circulation of the ouguiya in Mauritania, co-circulating with the previous banknote of the same denomination.

Banknotes of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017 issues)ImageValueMain colorDescriptionDate of issueObverseReverseObverseReverse
20 ouguiyaRedGrand Mosque of Gataga in KaediGuelb er Richât28 November 2020
50 ouguiyaVioletIbn Abbas mosque, NouakchottTeapot; musical instruments28 November 2017
100 ouguiyaGreenTowerCattle
200 ouguiyaYellowCamels
500 ouguiyaBlueTrawler; fish
1,000 ouguiyaBrownLocomotive of an ore train
Coins of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017-2018 issue)ImageValueTechnical parametersDescriptionDate of first mintingDiameterThicknessMassCompositionEdgeObverseReverse
ouguiya16.0 mm2.0 mm2.10 gCopper-plated steelPlain/SmoothNational seal of Mauritania; denominationFish; denomination2017
1 ouguiya19.9 mm2.0 mm4.00 gNickel-plated steelReeded/grainedNational seal of Mauritania; denominationTeapot; denomination2017
2 ouguiya24.0 mm5.65 gStainless steelReeded/grainedNational seal of Mauritania; denominationNational instruments; denomination2018
5 ouguiya22.5 mm2.0 mm4.71 gNickel-plated steelPlain/smoothNational seal of Mauritania; denominationInstruments; denomination2017
10 ouguiya24.0 mm1.8 mm5.38 gBi-metallic coin (Nickel-plated steel center with a Brass-plated steel ring)Segmented (alternating between 10 plain and reeded sections)National seal of Mauritania; denominationCow; denomination2017
20 ouguiya26.0 mm2.0 mm7.63 gTri-metallic coin (Bronze-plated steel center plug with a Nickel-plated steel inner ring and a Brass-plated steel outer ring)Plain/smoothCamels; denomination

References

References

  1. (2017-12-14). "ISO 4217 Amendment Number 165". .currency-iso.org.
  2. "Pièces".
  3. link. (2008-03-02 , Banque Centrale de Mauritanie)
  4. (2017-12-20). "Introduction de billets de banque en polymère". [[Banque Centrale de Mauritanie]].
  5. "Home: Oxford English Dictionary".
  6. König, Daniel G.. (2019). "Latin and Arabic: entangled histories". Heidelberg University Publishing.
  7. (2012). "The Banknote Book".
  8. "Data Standards".
  9. (2023-06-18). "البنك المركزي يعلن إصدار ورقة جديدة من فئة 50 أوقية". AlAkhbar.info.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Mauritanian ouguiya — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report