Thai baht

The baht (Thai: บาท, sign: ฿; code: THB) is the currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang (สตางค์). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand.

According to SWIFT, as of October 2014, the Thai baht ranked as the tenth most frequently used world payment currency.

History

The Thai baht, like the pound, originated from a traditional unit of mass. Its currency value was originally expressed as that of silver of corresponding weight (now defined as 15 grams), and was in use probably as early as the Sukhothai period in the form of bullet coins known in Thai as phot duang (Thai: พดด้วง). These were pieces of solid silver cast to various weights corresponding to a traditional system of units related by simple fractions and multiples, one of which is the baht. These are listed in the following table:

That system was in use up until 1897, when the decimal system devised by Jayanta Mongkol, in which one baht = 100 satang, was introduced by king Chulalongkorn. However, coins denominated in the old units were issued until 1910, and the amount of 25 satang is still commonly referred to as a salueng, as is the 25-satang coin.

Ten-baht coin

The Thailand ten-baht coin is a currency unit of the Thai baht. Like every standard-issue coin in Thailand, its obverse features King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Its reverse features Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawora Mahavihara seen from the Chao Phraya River. Raised dots corresponding to Braille cell dot 1 and dots 2-4-5, which correspond to the number 10, are at the 12 o'clock position on the reverse of the standard-issue 10-baht coin. Braille enumeration does not appear on coins of other denominations, nor on ten-baht coins frequently issued as commemorative coins (for example, the 50th and 60th Anniversary of Accession to the Throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.)

Ten-baht coin has been used as commemorative coin for many occasions since 1971. As of March 2012, there are one silver, twenty-three nickel, twenty-three cupronickel and fifty-eight bi-metallic face-valued ten-baht commemorative coin series.

The bi-metallic ten-baht coin is very similar to the two–euro coin, which first minted in 2002, in size, shape and weight and likewise consists of two different alloys. Vending machines that are not equipped with an up-to-date coin-checking system might therefore accept them as €2 coins. This similarity is because both coins are minted on the model of the defunct Italian 500 lire, the world's first modern bi-metallic coin. To mint its 10 baht coin in 1988, the Thai government had to be allowed by the Italian mint, which had an international copyright over bi-metallic minting. The 10 baht is a perfect copy of 500 lire even in its alloy, being made of acmonital for the ring and bronzital for the centre, but slightly larger (26 mm to 25.80 mm) and heavier (8.5 g to 6.8 g).

Two-baht coin

In Thailand, the two-baht coin is the coin which is worth 2 baht or 200 satang. The new 2-baht coin design features H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Great on the obverse, like all other Thai legal tender coins presently in circulation. The reverse design depicts the Golden Mountain at Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan in Bangkok.

Before the two-baht coin entered into circulation, it was used as a commemorative coin since 1979. As of 1996, there is one cupronickel and forty cupronickel-clad-copper commemorative coin series.

On September 15, 2005, the Royal Thai Mint began minting two-baht coins to complete the binary system in Thailand's coinage. That is, each successive denomination is worth twice, or roughly twice, as much as the previous one. Thai coin denominations in general circulation are now 25 satang, 50 satang, 1 baht, 2 baht, 5 baht, and 10 baht.

Recent statistics show that the one-baht coins constitute about 60% of the total coin circulation in the Thai economy. According to the Treasury Department, the issuance of the two-baht coins will solve the overwhelming demand for the one-baht coins as the two-baht coins now fill the gap between the one- and five-baht coins. This translates into savings in time and materials for the mint. The mint is considering expanding the use of multi-ply plated steel technology to other coin denominations due to volatile base metal prices and rising production costs.