Historical Sketch

The valleys of Andorra received a charter of freedom from the Frankish rulers already the 10th century. In 1278, they were placed under a joint fiefdom of the Catalan Prince-Bishop of Urgell and the French Count de Foix. When the de Foix family died out in the 16th century, the respective French head of state took over their fief. Andorra was not internationally recognized as an independent state until the 1993 constitution.

Monetary History Overview

Andorra has never had a distinct coinage of its own throughout history, money from the neighbouring countries was used in payment transactions. In modern times, Spanish and French banknotes did circulate but there has never been any formal monetary agreement. In 1983, the Andorran Diner was created as a symbolic currency which was nominally pegged to the Spanish Peseta and, since 1999 to the Euro. The currency did not circulate, only coins were issued for collectors and as tourists' souvenirs. Andorra is not member of the European Union, but in 2011 an agreement was concluded that allowed issuance of Andorran coins. To join the European Monetary Union, Andorra had to establish a central bank that. In July 2013, the Andorran National Finance Institute, which had been the financial supervisory authority since 1993, was reconstituted accordingly, so that the European Euro could be officially adopted as national currency. The Andorran coins are legal tender in the entire Euro area, but they are mainly sold to collectors and tourists.

Andorra joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 16.10.2020.

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