Libyan Money Notes & Coins

One Libyan Dinar Note:

The Libyan Dinar (دينار ليبي) was introduced in 1971 by the Central Bank of Libya as a replacement of the Jonayh, Jnee, or Gnee; which recalls the old English guinea (: originally was worth more than one pound: about £1.05 in today's money. The old English guinea was used to pay gentlemen like artists, but the pound was the common unit used to pay ordinary workers like labourers). ISO 4217 (or the currency code) of the Libyan Dinar is LYD, which sometimes is found as LD.

The Value of The Libyan Dinar (1LYD):

The Libyan Dinar was worth $3.3 (US dollars) and remained so strong until the 1980s, after which it began to gradually fall. Today it is worth less than a dollar (about $0.80). The rate of the American dollar in the Libyan black market has reached ten times that of the Libyan rate in 1996; which led the Libyan government to relax its grip on selling dollars to the Libyan people and thereby succeeding in lowering this rate to the average of three times that of the Libyan rate. Foreign travellers and visitors must not leave the country with more money than they initially declared when they arrived.

 

The Units of The Libyan Dinar:

• One Libyan dinar (LYD 1) = 100 qirsh = 1000 dirham (or mellim).
• Qirsh = 10 dirham.
• The smallest coin in circulation is 5 qirsh (50 mellim or milliemes) or 5 pence.
• The copper 1 pence and 2 pence coins are no longer in circulation, but are available from Libyan banks.

The Libyan Dinar comes in the following notes:

• ¼ dinar
• ½ dinar
• 1 dinar
• 5 dinars
• 10 dinars
• 20 dinars
• 50 dinars

A Quarter of Libyan Dinar Note:

 

 

Top Banks of Libya:

There are about ten major banks in Libya: the Central Bank of Libya,   the Agriculture Bank, the National Commercial Bank, the Commerce & Development Bank, the Arab Foreign Bank, the Savings and Real Estate Investment Bank, the Sahara Bank, al-Jamahiriya Bank, the Umma Bank, and the Wahda Bank.  For more details, please see our Libyan Banks page.

 

Half Libyan Dinar Note:

 

Exchanging Money in Libyan Banks:

It can be disappointing to travellers to find out that many banks in Libya, particularly those located in small towns and villages, are not authorised to deal in foreign currency and as such unable to exchange foreign currency for Libyan money. Only large banks or money shops (exchange bureaus) offer this services. It is perfectly safe to carry large amount of cash with you in Libya, and therefore exchanging small amounts at a time can be impractical at times. Always bring cash with you into the country.

 

Check the latest currency rates at the Central Bank of Libya.

 

Five Libyan Dinars Note:

 

Western Union & Cash:

Branches of Western Union are available in Libya as agents of Libya's Bank of Commerce and Development, and their offices are located inside the banks. According to Libyan law you must not leave Libya with more money in your possession than the money you had when you first arrived. Generally speaking, cash is normally used by most tourists. If you are coming from Tunisia, then you might would like to know that in a joint conference with the Tunisian Prime Minister, the Secretary of the Libyan GPS has announced that from the 15^th of January 2007 the Libyan and Tunisian dinars will be accepted in all Tunisian and Libyan banks and shops, without any reservation. If you are buying or exchanging any Libyan money in Tunisia before you enter Libya, please check their authenticity. It is highly recommended to buy your Libyan currency inside Libya; your tour guide will be very happy to help.

 

 

Ten Libyan Dinars Note:

The Libyan ten dinars note, showing the leader of the resistance the martyr Omar Almokhtar.

Credit Cards & ATM Machines in Libya:

Credit cards are not widely accepted (please see our Travel Guide for details). ATM cash machines are found mainly in Tripoli and Benghazi, including Tripoli Airport, and in some other cities like Cyrene, Sert, Musratha and Zuwarah. Whether they have cash in them at all times or not is a different matter.

 

The following list shows the locations of Wahda's ATM machines as published by the Wahda Bank (wahdabank.org).

 

Check the latest currency rates at the Central Bank of Libya.

 

 

Location of ATMs in Tripoli according to www.visa.co.uk.

You can use the following tool in their website to search for the location of ATM machines in any country in the world.

Also you can use Mastercard ATM Locator Tool at:

http://www.mastercard.com/global/atmlocations/

Twenty Libyan Dinars Note:

Twenty Libyan dinars.

A note of twenty dinars, showing the man-made river.

Cashing Travellers Cheques in Libya:

Travellers cheques: very few banks in Libya accept travellers cheques. If you do find one that accepts them, make sure you produce the document issued to you by your bank when you bought the travellers cheques. This document should have your name and the serial numbers of all the travellers cheques in the book. Without this document you will not be able to cash the cheques in Libyan banks.

 

 

Libyan Coins:

Libyan coins showing half dinar (top left), quarter dinar (top right), 100 dirham (bottom left), and 50 dirham (bottom right). The coins below show the reverse side of the coins, while the above ones show the obverse.

However, if you still need any of the smaller coins, like 1 pence and 2 pence coins, then you can obtain them from the bank. Al Wahda Bank has the following notice in its website, informing visitors about the availability of these smaller coins.

Image was made from a pdf file from www.wahdabank.org

The Libyan National Payment System (NPS):

Although the Libyan monetary system is rapidly catching up with the current international standards, there are a number of issues that still are under development; at the top of which rests the introduction of electronic monetary systems into the various financial services. These systems will be electronically linked via fiber optic technologies and digital and wireless satellites systems, using sophisticated encryption procedures to ensure the safety of the transmitted transactions. Article (5) of the Banking Law (1) of the year 2005 categorically capacitates the Central Bank of Libya to supervise the development of the NPS. In a joint cooperative project with various commercial banks, the CBL has began to implement the latest developments in information technology to modernise the NPS. As a result, foreign companies were awarded contracts to supervise the development of the following systems:

Core Banking System (CBS): a system to develop technologies to enable businesses and banks to benefit from the National Payment System and improve their global relations.

Automated Teller Machines (ATM): an electronic system of money distribution and balance keeping for the customers of all the participating banks, via automated teller machines (ATM).

Automated Checks Processing (ACP): an inter-banks electronic system to oversee the clearing of cheques and settling their values.

Automated Clearing House (ACH): all banks need to settle their accounts and transactions with their clients before reaching the RTGS (see below).

Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS): an electronic system which forces all financial bodies, such as banks, to settle all transaction accounts with the Central Bank of Libya at the end of each business day.

Points Of Sales (POS): an electronic system enabling businesses and customers to execute electronic payments at points of sales.

 

 

Check the latest currency rates at the Central Bank of Libya.