Cryptic Currencies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Euro

The word 'starting' indicates that the initial letters of 'European Union rules on' are needed for the answer - a communal currency. In this case the communal currency is the euro, whose notes and coins went into circulation on 1 January 2002 in those members of the European Union who had adopted the communal currency. A euro is divided into 100 cents.

Answer: Rand

The word 'rand' is hidden (held) inside the longer word, 'brands'. The South African currency unit takes its name from 'Witwatersrand' meaning 'White Water's Ridge', which is where most of the gold reserves were found near Johannesburg. The rand is divided into 100 cents.

Answer: Rouble

Removing the head - 't' from 'trouble' leaves the Russian currency of the rouble. The word comes from the Russian verb 'rubit', meaning to chop or cut, since the rouble was considered as a cutout piece of silver. It is composed of 100 kopeks.

Answer: Dong

'Northern' is represented by the letter 'n'. Moving indicates an anagram of 'n' and 'dog', leading to the Vietnamese currency of the dong. The dong is divided into 1000 xu, and takes its name from a Vietnamese word for 'coin'.

Answer: Yen

Another word for a desire is a yen, which is also the name of the Japanese currency. It is divided into 100 sen. The word comes from the Japanese word 'en' meaning 'round'.

Answer: Lira

Lira is an anagram of 'rail'. The Turkish lira is divided into 100 kurus. The name comes from the Latin 'libra' meaning 'pound'. It was also the name of the currencies of Italy and Malta before the introduction of the euro.

Answer: Rupee

Rupee is contained in the words 'ecRU PEEpul'. A peepul is another word for the bo tree - a fig tree which is native to India. The word 'rupee' comes from the Sanskrit for wrought silver - 'rupya'. The Indian rupee is divided into 100 paise. The rupee is also the name of the currency units of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Answer: Dinar

'Drain' can be rearranged to make 'dinar'. In Iraq and Kuwait the dinar is composed of 1000 fils. The name 'dinar' comes from the Latin 'denarius', which was a silver coin used by the Romans. Dinar is also the name of the currency units of Algeria, Jordan, Libya and Tunisia.

Answer: Peso

The symbols for the chemical elements polonium and einsteinium are Po and Es. Placing the symbol for polonium around that for einsteinium gives P-Es-o. The Mexican currency unit, peso, is divided into 100 centavos. The word comes from the Spanish word for 'weight'; originally there were pesos oro and pesos plata - gold weights and silver weights.

Answer: Franc

Another word for open or honest is 'frank' which sounds like the Swiss currency, 'franc'. The franc is divided into 100 centimes. Before the introduction of the euro, both Belgium and France used francs as their monetary units. The name is taken from the Latin 'Francorum Rex' meaning 'king of the Franks', presumably because a likeness of the king was displayed on the coins.

Answer: Dollar

Changes indicates another anagram. 'All rod' can be re-arranged to make 'dollar'. The Australians replaced the pound with the dollar in 1966; it is divided into 100 cents. Other countries which use the dollar include New Zealand and Canada, as well as the United States - probably the most widely used dollar in the world.

The word comes from the German 'Taler', which is an abbreviation of Joachimstaler referring to the Bohemian valley where silver was mined to make coins.

Answer: Forint

RI is the abbreviation for Rhode Island. The letters 'ri' are inserted into the middle of the word 'font' to make 'fo-ri-nt'. It was originally divided into 100 filler, although there were no filler coins minted after the end of the twentieth century. The forint takes its name from fiorino d'oro, which were gold coins minted in Florence in the thirteenth century.

Answer: Shilling

'Gin hills' is an anagram of 'shilling'. The shilling is the main currency unit in Kenya and Uganda as well as Tanzania. The shilling was a twentieth part of the pound sterling before decimalisation in 1971. It takes its name from 'scilling' - an Anglo-Saxon accounting word.

Answer: Ringgit

The Malaysian currency, ringgit, is hidden in the words 'blaRING GITterns'. A gittern was a medieval stringed instrument similar to a lute. The ringgit takes its name from an old Malay word meaning 'jagged' referring to the serrated edges of the coins circulating in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Answer: Baht

The word 'finally' indicates that the last letters of the following words should be used to solve the clue. The final letters of 'grab a fifth bit' spell 'baht' - the unit of currency in Thailand. The baht is divided into 100 satang.