The dong (Vietnamese: đồng, chữ Hán: 銅; ; Vietnamese: [ˀɗɜwŋ͡m˨˩]; sign: ₫ or informally đ and sometimes Đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) is the currency of Vietnam, in use since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the predecessor states of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, having replaced the previously used French Indochinese piastre. Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hao (hào), which were further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which are now used due to inflation. The Vietnamese dong has increasingly moved towards exclusively using banknotes, with lower denominations printed on paper and denominations over 10,000 dong, worth about 40¢ dollar or euro, printed on polymer. As of 2022, no coins are used. Generally, Vietnam is moving towards digital payments. The 500,000-dong note (VND) is the highest-denomination banknote in circulation in Vietnam. The note is dark blue in color and has been in circulation since 2003. As of August 2024, the Vietnamese dong is the third-lowest valued currency unit (behind the Iranian rial and the Lebanese pound), with one United States dollar equaling 25,135 dong.