ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines alpha codes and numeric codes for the representation of currencies, and provides information about the relationships between currencies and their minor units. This data is published in three tables:
Table A.1 – Current currency & funds code list Table A.2 – Current funds codes Table A.3 – List of codes for historic denominations of currencies & funds The first edition of ISO 4217 was published in 1978. The tables, history and ongoing discussion are maintained by SIX Group on behalf of ISO and the Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV). The ISO 4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. In many countries, the ISO 4217 alpha codes for the more common currencies are so well known publicly that exchange rates published in newspapers or posted in banks use only these to delineate the currencies, instead of translated currency names or ambiguous currency symbols. ISO 4217 alpha codes are used on airline tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price.
History In 1973, ISO/TC 68 commenced development of a code for representing currencies, with this resulting standard being encouraged for use in international trade per UNECE Recommendation 9. The Recommendation uses ISO 3166 country codes in its currency table, and notes that these codes correspond to the three-letter ISO 4217 codes where possible. Due to the volatility of global currencies - such as in the event of redenomination or country formation - the standard is actively maintained and amended by a delegated authority of the SNV, with the most recent edition being ISO 4217:2015.
Types of codes
National currencies In the case of national currencies, the first two letters of the alpha code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code and the third is usually the initial of the currency's main unit. So Japan's currency code is JPY: "JP" for Japan and "Y" for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the names dollar, franc, peso, and pound being used in many countries, each having significantly differing values. In some cases, the third letter of the alpha code is not the initial letter of a currency unit name. There may be a number of reasons for this:
It is considered important that the code of a completely new currency be highly mnemonic if possible. An example is the assignment of the code EUR to the euro. ISO 4217 amendment 94, which created this code, states "The code element 'EU' has been reserved by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency for use within ISO 4217 where 'R' has been appended to make an acceptable mnemonic code." Here the R comes from the third letter in the word "euro". The currency in question is replacing another currency of the same name, due to revaluation. So that the two currencies have different codes, a different third letter must be chosen for the code of the new currency. In some cases, the third letter is the initial for "new" in that country's language, to distinguish it from an older currency that was revalued; the code sometimes outlasts the usage of the term "new" itself (for example, the code for the Mexican peso is MXN, reflecting its 1993 revaluation). Another solution to a revalued currency having the same name as its predecessor is to choose a third letter which results in a 3-letter code with mnemonic significance. For example, the Russian ruble changed from RUR to RUB following a revaluation, where the B comes from the third letter in the word "ruble".
X currencies (funds, precious metals, supranationals, other) In addition to codes for most active national currencies ISO 4217 provides codes for "supranational" currencies, procedural purposes, and several things which are "similar to" currencies:
Codes for the precious metals gold (XAU), silver (XAG), palladium (XPD), and platinum (XPT) are formed by prefixing the element's chemical symbol with the letter "X". These "currency units" are defined as one troy ounce of the specified metal. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing. The code XXX is used to denote a "transaction" involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, e.g., XDR is the symbol for special drawing right issued by the International Monetary Fund. The codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC, and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit (ECU), had the code XEU. The use of the initial letter "X" for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO 3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. The inclusion of the EU (denoting the European Union) in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list allows the euro to be coded as EUR rather than assigned a code beginning with X, even though it is a supranational currency.
Numeric codes ISO 4217 also assigns a three-digit numeric code to each currency. This numeric code is usually the same as the numeric code assigned to the corresponding country by ISO 3166-1. For example, USD (United States dollar) has numeric code 840 which is also the ISO 3166-1 code for the United States.
List of ISO 4217 currency codes
Active codes (list one) The following is a list of active codes of official ISO 4217 currency names as of 1 January 2026. In the standard the values are called "alphabetic code", "numeric code", "minor unit", and "entity".
According to UN/CEFACT recommendation 9, paragraphs 8–9 ECE/TRADE/203, 1996:
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