Foreign Currency Symbols

Currencies, like equities, have their own symbols that distinguish one from another. Since currencies are quoted in terms of the value of one against the value of another, a currency pair includes the "name" for both currencies, separated by a "/". The "name" is a three letter acronym. The first two letters are in most cases reserved for identification of the country. The last letter is the first letter of the unit of currency for that country.

For example,

USD = United States Dollar
GBP = Great Britain Pound
JPY = Japanese Yen
CAD = Canadian Dollar
CHF = Confederatio Helvetica (Latin for Swiss Confederation) Franc
NZD = New Zealand Dollar
AUD = Australian Dollar
NOK = Norwegian Krona
SEK = Swedish Krona

Since the European Euro has no specific country attached to it, it goes simply by the acronym EUR.

By combining one currency, EUR, with another USD, you create a currency pair EUR/USD.

The Liquid Currency Pairs

Currencies, like equities and bonds, have pairs that are very liquid and those that are not so liquid. The liquid currencies can be characterized as those that are the most stable economically and politically. They include the countries that form the G7 - the United States, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada.

Since the unification of the European currencies into the EURO, the currencies that are most liquid now include the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen, the British Pound, the Euro, and the Canadian Dollar. It is estimated that activities in these currencies comprise more than 80% of the daily foreign exchange volume.