Mauritanian ouguiya

The ouguiya ( (); sign: UM; code: MRU), at one time spelled "ougiya", is the currency of Mauritania.

Each ouguiya constitutes five khoums (meaning "one fifth"). As such it is one of two circulating currencies, along with the Malagasy ariary, whose division units are not based on a power of ten. As of May 2026, the unit is effectively obsolete since the khoums has practically no purchasing power, and the coins have fallen into disuse.

The current ouguiya was introduced in 2018, replacing the old ouguiya at a rate of 1 new ouguiya = 10 old ouguiya, which in turn replaced the CFA franc at a rate of 1 old ouguiya = 5 francs.

The name ouguiya () is the Hassaniya Arabic pronunciation of uqiyyah ), meaning "(Roman) ounce".

First Ouguiya (MRO)

Coins

In 1973, coins of (1 khoums), 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya were introduced into circulation. This was the only year that the khoums was minted, as the ouguiya was worth five CFA Francs a khoums was the equivalent of the franc (which had no subdivision). The most recent issues were in 2003 (1 ouguiya) and 2004 (other denominations). Coins are minted at the Kremnica mint in Slovakia. The coinage slightly changed in 2009, with a reduced 1 ouguiya in plated composition and a bi-metallic 20 ouguiya issued. A bi-metallic 50 ouguiya was issued December 2010.

image:Ouguiya 1.png|Obverse of 1 ouguiya coin, made of Aluminium bronze.

image:Ouguiya 2.png|Reverse of 1 ouguiya coin, made of Aluminium bronze.

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Banknotes

In 1973, notes were issued by the Central Bank of Mauritania (Banque Centrale de Mauritanie) in denominations of 100, 200 and 1,000 ouguiya. In 1974, a second series of notes was issued in the same denominations, with 500-ouguiya notes added in 1979. Banknotes have been printed by Giesecke & Devrient in Munich, starting with the second issue.

thumb|Obverse of 100 ouguiya note issued in 2011 with [[Eastern Arabic numerals. The reverse features text in French and Western Arabic numerals.]]

New banknotes were introduced in 2004. These notes have completely new fronts and the vignettes on the backs have been redesigned to accommodate the reduction in size. The 2,000-ouguiya denomination is entirely new.

A new 5,000-ouguiya denomination dated 28 November 2009 was introduced on 8 August 2010, followed by a redesigned 2,000-ouguiya note dated 28 November 2011 issued on 1 February 2012.

Second ouguiya (MRU)

On 5 December 2017, the Central Bank of Mauritania announced a redenomination of its currency at a rate of 1:10. Reducing inflation and the risk of forgery were named as the main reasons behind this move. New coins and banknotes entered circulation on 1 January 2018. As a consequence of this change, the ISO Currency Codes for the ouguiya were amended to MRU / 929.

Coins

As part of the redenomination, a new series of coins were issued in denominations of 1 khoums ( ouguiya), 1, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya, with the latter being struck as a tri-metallic coin.

A 2 ouguiya coin was added on 1 February 2019, serving as an intermediate denomination for the 1 and 5 ouguiya coins already in circulation.

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!colspan="10"|Coins of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017-2018 issue)

! Diameter !! Thickness !! Mass !! Composition !! Edge !! Obverse !! Reverse