ISO 4217 Currency Code Reference

Search the active ISO 4217 currency codes, numbers and minor units.

Overview

ISO 4217 is the international standard that assigns each currency a three-letter alphabetic code (USD, EUR, JPY), a three-digit numeric code, and a "minor unit" exponent indicating how many decimal places the currency uses. The standard is maintained by the ISO Maintenance Agency and currently lists around 180 active currencies plus a handful of supranational and fund codes. Code stability matters: financial systems, accounting ledgers, and payment messages such as ISO 20022 rely on these identifiers being unambiguous.

A code reference is the canonical lookup when integrating any system that touches multiple currencies — payment gateways, multi-currency bookkeeping, FX feeds, or invoicing software. It also resolves the most common point of confusion: minor units. US dollars and euros use two decimal places, Japanese yen uses zero, and Bahraini dinar and Tunisian dinar use three. Storing monetary amounts in the wrong scale silently corrupts a ledger.

How it works

The reference exposes a searchable list keyed by alpha code, numeric code, and country or currency name. Each entry includes the alpha-3 code, numeric code, currency name, list of countries where it is legal tender, and the minor-unit exponent (which becomes the number of decimal places in fixed-point representation). Historical and demonetized codes such as DEM (Deutsche Mark) and XEU (ECU) are marked as inactive so a developer can detect a code that should no longer appear in new transactions.

Examples

USD → US dollar, numeric 840, minor unit 2. $10.00 stores as integer 1000 cents.
JPY → Japanese yen, numeric 392, minor unit 0. ¥10000 stores as integer 10000 yen — no decimals.
BHD → Bahraini dinar, numeric 048, minor unit 3. BHD 1.234 stores as integer 1234.
XAU → Gold (one troy ounce), used in commodity-pegged contracts.
XBT is not ISO 4217; cryptocurrencies are not assigned codes by the standard, although some markets use XBT informally for Bitcoin.

FAQ

Why is the numeric code useful?
Some legacy systems (ISO 8583 card messages, for example) only carry the numeric code. The alpha code is the human-readable counterpart.

How do I store monetary amounts safely?
Use integers scaled by 10^minor_unit. Avoid binary floats, which cannot represent 0.10 exactly.

Do supranational codes exist?
Yes — codes starting with X cover supranational, precious metals, and special-purpose entities like XDR (IMF Special Drawing Rights).

How often does the list change?
Rarely. Additions happen when a country adopts a new currency (e.g., VES for Venezuela's bolívar soberano). Demonetized codes are retired but the alpha code is not reused for years.

Are crypto tickers part of ISO 4217?
No. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no official ISO code; market data vendors assign their own tickers.

Try ISO 4217 Currency Code Reference