Code LYD Symbol LD and ل.د | ||
Banknotes 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 dinars Coins 50, 100 dirhams ¼, ½ dinar | ||
The dinar (Arabic: دينار) is the currency of Libya. Its ISO 4217 code is "LYD". The dinar is subdivided into 1000 dirham (درهم). It was introduced in September 1971 and replaced the pound at par. It is issued by the Central Bank of Libya, which also supervises the banking system and regulates credit. In 1972, the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank was established to deal with overseas investment. Ali Mohammed Salem, deputy governor of Central Bank of Libya stated the exchange rate of Libyan dinar would be pegged to special drawing rights for one to three years, according to an interview to Reuters on 27 December 2011.
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Coins
Until 1975, old coins denominated in milliemes (equal to the dirham) circulated. In 1975, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dirhams which bore the coat of arms of the Federation of Arab Republics. These were followed in 1979 by a second series of coins, in the same denominations, which bore a design of a horseman in place of the arms. ¼ and ½ dinar coins were issued in 2001 and 2004, respectively. In 2009, new 50, 100 dirhams, ¼ and ½ dinar coins were issued. 1, 5, 10, and 20 dirham coins are rarely used as units of exchange. However, they still retain their status as legal tenders.
In 2013 and 2014, the Central Bank of Libya issued ¼ and ½ dinar coins and 50 and 100 dirham coins.
Popular nomenclature and denominations
The Libyan dinar is commonly called jni, [ʒni] (western Libyan Dialect) or jneh [ʒneh] (eastern Libyan dialect). The name dinar is rarely used outside official circles. The authorized fractional unit, the dirham, is never mentioned in everyday conversation. Garsh - a variant of the word qirsh - is employed instead, with 1 garsh = 10 dirhams. One thousand dinars is stylishly called a kilo [kiːlu]. Similarly, five dinar notes and ten dinar notes are sometimes nicknamed, in the younger generation male slang, faifa [faːifa] and tsena [tseːna] respectively, which are playful feminizations of the English words five and ten, but may also be remnants of British slang words 'fiver' and 'tenner' for five and ten pound notes respectively. Libyan currency is nicknamed by Libyans ʿOmar El-Mokhtar after the Libyan freedom fighter who is featured on the obverse of the 10 dinar note.