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Decimal currency is the term used to describe any currency for which the ratio between the basic unit of currency and its sub-unit is a power of 10. In practice this usually means that 100 sub-units make up 1 of the basic units, but currencies divided into 1000 sub-units also exist, especially in Arab countries. For example:
- 100 cents make one dollar in various countries.
- 100 euro cents make one euro.
- 100 British pence make one pound.
- 100 Russian kopecks make one ruble.
- 1000 Tunisian millimes make one dinar.
- 100 Indian paise make one rupee.
- 100 Polish groszy make one złoty.
Today, the only currencies which are not decimal are those that have no sub-units at all, except for:
- the Mauritanian ouguiya, 1 ouguiya = 5 khoum, and
- the ariary of Madagascar: 1 ariary = 5 iraimbilaja.
Historically, non-decimal currencies were much more common, such as the British pound Sterling before decimalisation in 1971. Until 1971, the pound Sterling worked on a system of pence (12 to a shilling) and shillings (20 to a pound), plus other combinations (ha'pence, guinea, and crown); and in addition the penny was divided into 4 farthings. A pound could be subdivided in 19 different ways into integral numbers of pence (for example, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8 and 1/10 of a pound were respectively 60, 48, 40, 30, and 24 pence exactly) and in 8 additional ways into integral numbers of farthings (for example, 1/64 pound was 3 pence 3 farthings, written 3¾d).
