The ringgit (formerly, and now unofficially, known as the Malaysian dollar), is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen (cents) and its currency code is MYR (Malaysian Ringgit). The ringgit is issued by the Bank Negara Malaysia.

The word ringgit means "jagged" in Malay and was originally used to refer to the serrated edges of silver Spanish dollars which circulated widely in the area during the 16th and 17th century Portuguese colonial era. The Singapore dollar and the Brunei dollar are also called ringgit in Malay (although currencies such as the U.S. and Australian dollars are dolar), hence its official abbreviation RM for Ringgit Malaysia.

Between 1995 and 1997, the ringgit was trading as a free float currency at around 2.50 to the U.S. dollar, before dipping to under 3.80 to the dollar by the end of 1997, following the year's East Asian financial crisis. For the first half of 1998, the currency fluctuated between 3.80 and 4.40 to the dollar, before Bank Negara Malaysia pegged the ringgit to the US dollar in September 1998, maintaining its 3.80 to the dollar value for almost seven years, while remaining floated against other currencies.

The ringgit lost 50% of its value against the US dollar between 1997 and 1998, and suffered general depreciation against other currencies between December 2001 and January 2005. As of September 4, 2008, the ringgit has yet to regain its value circa 2001 against the Singapore dollar (SGD) (2.07 to 2.40 to the MYR), the Euro (EUR) (3.40 to 4.97 to the MYR), the Australian dollar (AUD) (1.98 to 2.80 to the MYR[8]), and the British pound (GBP) (5.42 to 6.10 to the MYR).

The first series of sen coins were introduced in 1967 in denominations of 1 sen, 5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen, followed by the introduction of the 1 ringgit coin (which continued to use the $ symbol and is the largest coin in the series) in 1971. While varied by diameters, virtually all the coins were minted in near-consistent observe and reverse designs, the latter depicting the then recently completed Malaysian Houses of Parliament and the federal star and crescent moon derived from the canton of the Malaysian flag. All coins were minted from cupronickel, the only exception being the 1 sen coin, which was first composed from bronze between 1967 to 1972, followed by steel clad with copper from 1973 onwards. The 50 sen coin is the only coin in the series to undergo a redesign—a minor modification on its edge in 1971 to include "Bank Negara Malaysia" letterings.

As of April 1, 2008, a rounding mechanism of prices to the nearest 5 sen, applied to the total bill only, is in force, which was first announced in 2007 by Bank Negara Malaysia, in an attempt to render the 1 sen coin irrelevant. Individual items and services can still be priced in multiples of 1 sen with the final totaled rounded to the nearest 5 sen. For example, purchasing two items priced RM4.88 and RM3.14, totalling RM8.02, would then be rounded to RM8.00. If each item had been individually rounded (to RM4.90 and RM3.15 respectively) the incorrect total would have been RM8.05. In practice, individual items will probably remain priced at so-called "price points" (or psychological pricing and odd-number pricing) ending in 98 and 99 to maximize rounding gains for the vendor, especially in the case of single item purchases. Existing 1 sen coins in circulation remain legal tender for payments up to RM2.00.

The second series was issued with Malaysian traditional ornamental designs in 1982–1984, in $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1000 denominations. The $20 was generally relatively uncommon. The second series notes are still occasionally encountered.

The mark for the blind on the upper left hand corner was removed on the second revision in 1986.

In 1999 the RM500 and RM1000 notes were discontinued and ceased to be legal tender. This was due because of the Asian monetary crisis of 1997 when huge amounts of ringgit were taken out of the country to be traded in these notes. In effect the notes were withdrawn out of circulation and the amount of ringgit taken out of the country in banknotes was limited to RM1000.

The current and third series was issued with designs in the spirit of Wawasan 2020 in 1996–1999 in denominations of RM2, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100. The larger denomination RM50 and RM100 notes had an additional hologram strip to deter counterfeiters.

In 2000, the RM1 note was reintroduced, replacing the RM2 note, which remains legal tender, and the RM1 coin. The RM1 coin was eventually withdrawn from circulation and demonetised on December 7, 2005.

In 2004, Bank Negara issued a new RM10 note with additional security features including the holographic strip previously only seen on the RM50 and RM100 notes. A new RM5 polymer banknote with a distinctive transparent window was also issued. Both new banknotes are almost identical to their original third series designs. According to Bank Negara, all paper notes will eventually be phased out and replaced by polymer notes.

In early 2008, the Bank released a newly-designed RM50 banknote, which according to the Bank, were to enter general circulation beginning January 30, 2008. Earlier, 20,000 more such notes with special packaging were distributed by the bank on December 26, 2007. There is no currently official word on new designs for notes of other denominations.

The leu ([lew], plural: lei [lej]; ISO 4217 code RON; numeric code 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani (singular: ban). On 1 July 2005, Romania underwent a currency reform, switching from the previous leu (ROL) to a new leu (RON). 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL.

Romania joined the European Union on 1 January 2007 and it is expected to adopt the euro in 2014.

On August 15, 1947, a revaluation took place, with a new leu replacing the old one at a rate of 20,000 old lei = 1 new leu. This revaluation, called a monetary reform or stabilisation measure (mica stabilizare, marea stabilizare), was carried out by the Communist authorities with absolutely no advance warning and without the possibility to exchange more than a fixed amount of money for the new currency. This was done in order to depose the former middle and upper classes of their last assets, after nationalization, to prepare for collectivization and to finalize the installation of communism. At the time of its introduction, 150 new lei equalled 1 U.S. dollar.

In the 1990s, after the downfall of communism, inflation ran high due to reform failures, the legalization of owning foreign currency in 1990, and the bankrupt policies of the former communist era, reaching rates as high as 300% per year in 1993. By September 2003, one euro was exchanged for more than 40,000 lei, this being its peak value. Following a number of successful monetary policies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the situation became gradually more stable, with one digit inflation in 2005.

The Romanian leu briefly held the dubious distinction of being the world's least valued currency unit, from January (when the Turkish lira dropped six zeros) to July 2005. However, the 1,000,000 lei bill was not the highest Romanian denomination ever. This distinction belongs to the 5 million lei bill from 1947.

On 1 July 2005, the leu was revalued at the rate of 10,000 "old" lei (ROL) for one "new" leu (RON), thus psychologically bringing the purchasing power of the leu back in line with those of other major Western currencies. The term chosen for the action was "denominare", similar to the English "denomination", to signify not a conversion, but rather a total reinvention.

The first day brought difficulties adjusting to the new paper currencies and closed ATMs (that needed reprogramming) and forcing a new calculation habit that slowed down shops and annoyed some salespeople and shoppers. The old ROL currency banknotes remained in circulation until December 31, 2006 (coins remained in circulation only until December 31, 2005), but all accounts have been converted starting July 1, 2005. There is no conversion time limit between the currencies. Retailers had to display prices in both old and new currency from March 1, 2005 until June 30, 2006. The appreciation of the leu during 2005 was about 20% against a basket of major currencies.

As of 2006, the revaluation is a potential source of confusion, especially to visitors, since both old and new currency values are commonly quoted. When written, the very large amounts in old currency are usually obvious, but in speaking inhabitants might refer to an amount of 5 new lei as simply "fifty" in reference to its value 50,000 old lei.

In 1952, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 bani, with the 1, 3 and 5 struck in aluminium bronze and the others in cupro-nickel. In 1955, cupro-nickel 50 bani were added.

In 1960, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of 15 and 25 bani, with 5 bani, 1 and 3 lei coins added in 1963. All were struck in nickel-clad steel. In 1975, aluminium replaced steel in the 5 and 15 bani, with the same change happening for the 25 bani in 1982. Aluminium 5 lei were introduced in 1978.

Following the end of the communist regime, a new coinage was introduced between 1990 and 1992, consisting of 1 leu in bronze clad steel, 5 and 10 lei in nickel plated steel, 20 and 50 lei in brass clad steel and nickel plated steel 100 lei.

As inflation took its toll, 500, 1000 and 5000 lei coins were introduced in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively, and were the only coins circulating when the revaluation occurred. They were all criticized for being clumsy and difficult to use. The 500 lei coins were very thick (about 0.3 cm). Despite their small value, it took only a handful of such coins to fill one's pocket. They were also made of poor material and could be occasionally found with bite marks. The 1000 lei coin was considered too small and was also cheaply made, and the 5000 lei coin was not circular (it was a dodecagon). This made it awkward to handle and difficult to use in slot machines, where it was frequently the only coin accepted. The 500, 1000 and 5000 lei coins became worth 5, 10 and 50 bani with the revaluation.

In 1952, the Ministry of Finance introduced notes for 1, 3 and 5 lei, and the Banca Republicii Populare Romane introduced 10, 25 and 100 lei notes. In 1966, the Banca Nationala a Republicii Socialiste Romania took over the production of all paper money, issuing notes for 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 lei.

In 1991, 500 and 1000 lei notes were introduced, followed by 200 and 5000 lei notes in 1992, 10,000 lei in 1994, 50,000 lei in 1996, 100,000 lei in 1998, 500,000 lei in 2000 and 1 million lei in 2003. There was also a 2000 lei note, introduced in 1999; it celebrated the total solar eclipse that occurred on August 11th, 1999. The final issues of the 2000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000 and 1 million lei were polymer notes.

Notes in circulation at the revaluation were:

* 10,000 lei (became 1 leu)
* 50,000 lei (became 5 lei)
* 100,000 lei (became 10 lei)
* 500,000 lei (became 50 lei)
* 1,000,000 lei (became 100 lei)

In 2005, polymer notes were introduced for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 lei. 200 lei notes were added in 2006. The designs of the 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 lei notes are based on those of the earlier 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000 and 1 million lei notes which they replaced. The 10 lei bill was redesigned in November 2008 (most of the graphic elements are identical, some of the safety elements were withdrawn, making its safety degree similar the the lower values of 1 leu and 5 lei bills).