Political turmoil and monetary trouble seem to go hand-in-hand, and Vietnam is no exception. A French colony from the mid-19th century, a rebellion ousted the French and led to an independent, but divided, Vietnam in 1955. The official colonial currency had been the French Indochinese Piaster, but as early as 1946, the Viet Minh rebels introduced their own unofficial currency, called the dong, on par with the piaster.
Communist and Capitalist Currency Unifies in 1978, Suffers Inflation
During the conflict between the communist north and capitalist south from 1955-1976, each side used the dong as currency but had separate issues of their own. With unification, the two currencies were merged in 1978 into the new official currency, the Vietnamese Dong (VND).
As has happened in many “new” nations, the currency suffered from inflation as Vietnam struggled to emerge from decades of war. In 1985, the dong was revalued with “new dong” worth 1/10th the value of the old currency, triggering a cycle of chronic inflation that led to mega-notes being issued in denominations in the hundreds of thousands. After the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar in 2009, the Vietnamese dong was the second least-valued currency in the world, after the Iraqi dinar.
Revaluation Attempts to Stabilize but Beauty Creates Collectible Interest
Since 2014, the dong has been revalued five more times in an effort to spur economic growth and stabilize the currency. Today, 1,000 VND are worth about 4 cents US, or over 22,000 to the US dollar, making the currency virtually worthless except in huge numbers. But its real value lies in the beautiful multi-colored artwork that depicts scenes of Vietnamese culture and history on the reverse side of the bills. This makes the Vietnamese notes of particular interest to currency collectors and fans of international history.
Large Denomination Vietnamese Dong Banknotes and Bundles
The Great American Coin Company® is pleased to offer Vietnamese bank notes in denominations of 500 to 500,000 dong as collectible or novelty items, as well as bundles of VND notes totaling 1 million face value.
We have an extensive selection of international banknotes to add to your currency collection, which make fine additions to collectors’ portfolios, are great mementos of foreign journeys, and are unique novelty items for imaginative gift-giving. They are sold as novelty or collectible items only with no monetary value. Their prices are based solely on market supply and demand, and as such can vary.