Cyprus Banknotes

The history of the Cypriot Pound

The Cypriot Pound also called the lira unofficially is the currency used on the British portion of Cyprus. In the Turkish portion of Cyprus the Turkish Lira is used. The Cypriot pound in commonly expressed as £, Cy£ or C£ and the ISO 4217 code is CYP.

The Cyprus pound, first introduced in 1879 was equal to one British pound sterling up until 1960. The Cypriot pound was originally divided into 20 shillings like the British pound, but unlike the British shilling which was divided into twelve pence, the Cypriot shilling was divided into 9 piastres or kurus. This division established a link to the former currency of Cyprus the Turkish Lira divisible by 100 kurus.

The value of the Cyprus pound in 1879 in short:

GBP1 = CY£1

Cy£1 = 20 shillings = 180 piastres

1 shilling = 9 piasters

1 Turkish Lira = 100 kurus = Cy£-/11/1 (11 Cyprus shillings and 1 piastre)

In 1955 Cyprus chose to decimalize its' currency for easier calculations, as well as the link to the Turkish Lira was no longer in effect as the value of the Turkish Lira had declined. Cyprus chose to divide the pound into 1000 mils. The pound's sub-unit was again changed, since 1983 the pound has been divided into 100 cents. Coins valued in mils are no longer legal tender.

Coins in current use come in the denominations of 1,2,5,10,20 and 50 cents. Notes in current use which are pictured above come in denominations of Cy£1, Cy£5, Cy£10 and Cy£20. Banknotes have both Turkish and Greek on the front and English on the back. All notes are currently issued by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Cyprus plans to replace its' currency with the euro at the beginning of 2008. The Cypriot pound is currently pegged to the euro at Cy£0.585274 +/- 15%.

1 Cyprus pound banknote

Denomination: CYP 1

Image: Cypriot girl dressed in
traditional costume

5 Cyprus pound banknote

Denomination: CYP 5

Image: Limestone head of a young man dating
from the fifth century BC

10 Cyprus pound banknote

Denomination: CYP 10

Image: Marble head of Artemis, the goddess of
hunting, dating from the Roman period

20 Cyprus pound banknote

Denomination: CYP 20

Image: Bust of the goddess Aphrodite dating
from the first century BC