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Below is a brief overview of the history of currencies in Cyprus. In 1995 at the Bank of Cyprus administrative headquarters the Museum of the History of Cypriot Coinage opened a permanent exhibition of the development of Cypriot currency, from as early as the 6th century BC until recent times.

The Museum of the History of Cypriot Coinage website

Banks of Cyprus

In the 6th century BC the minting of coins was a privilege enjoyed by all the kings of Cyprus, although Cyprus was under Persian domination at the time. The earliest Cypriot coins were made entirely of silver.

Starting with the rule of Alexander the Great (333 - 325 BC) pictorial representation on coins becomes more political, a tradition kept alive in later periods. The independent minting of coins by the Cypriot kings ended in 310 BC with the abolishement of the city-kingdoms by Ptolemy I of Egypt. In the Roman period the depictions on coins project the glory and exploits of the emperors, and are used as a means of propaganda and other materials like gold and copper where introduced, reflecting the economic fortunes.

From 330 AD the Byzantine period starts for Cyprus and in this period many coins were published which had been struck in Constantinople.

In 1191 AD Richard the Lionheart conquered Cyprus, and sold it to the Frankish king of Jerusalem Louzinian. Until the 13th century the currencies of the kingdom were Byzantine and Dinars until Henri II Crusader king of Cyprus and claimant to Jerusalem (1285-1324) introduced a new coin, the silver gross, which remains the typical coin of Cyprus until the Ottoman period.

The Ottomans soon after they invaded Cyprus (1571 AD) introduced their numismatic system. The coins were struck in

Constantinople with a very few exceptions of coins which were struck in Cyprus during the 17th century.

In 1878 Cyprus was transferred to the British rule, which introduced their new numismatic system based on the piastre (copper) and later on 1901 on the shilling (silver). In 1955 the British withdrawed all the previous coins, introducing the Cyprus pound (1000 mils). For the first time in Cypriot history they typed money on paper (banknotes).

On 16th of August 1960 Cyprus was declared as an independed state. The new state kept the British numismatic system by changing their symbols on both faced of the coins and banknotes. In 1983 the Cyprus pound division changed from 1000 mils to 100 cents which is the situation until now.

In 2008 Cyprus have adopted the euro after joining the Euro zone in May 1, 2004.