Only two circulating currencies in the world are still theoretically divided into non-decimal sub-units: the ouguiya of Mauritania (worth five khoums) and the ariary of Madagascar (worth five iraimbilanja). Sadly, since the ouguiya is 247 to the Canadian dollar and the ariary is 1,649 to 1, the sub-units in question are no longer being minted separately.
Not long ago I wrote that "When it comes to money, tradition should probably have less claim upon us than efficiency, though in practice it usually works out the other way around." Yet here we have a change in our understanding of money that is not only global but probably irreversible (except under local circumstances where currency, as such, collapses altogether and the economy reverts to barter of fungible goods).
Comments (1)
I remember reading an Anthony Burgess book where he goes on for some length about the superiority of the old English system: Being able to evenly divide be threes, etc.
Posted by AtlanticTy | May 18, 2008 6:15 AM
Posted on May 18, 2008 06:15