The Malagasy ariary is one of the few currencies in the world not based on a decimal subdivision of ten — the iraimbilanja, its subunit, divides the ariary into five rather than one hundred. This reflects the pre-colonial counting system that survived French occupation and was formally reinstated when Madagascar redenominated from the Malagasy franc in 1961, a deliberate reassertion of indigenous numerical tradition that most post-colonial states never attempted.
KM#31 is part of a long-running stainless steel series that replaced earlier bimetallic and aluminum-bronze issues as Madagascar's central bank rationalized coinage costs following chronic foreign exchange shortages in the 2000s.
The Malagasy ariary is one of the few currencies in the world not based on a decimal subdivision of ten — the iraimbilanja, its subunit, divides the ariary into five rather than one hundred. This reflects the pre-colonial counting system that survived French occupation and was formally reinstated when Madagascar redenominated from the Malagasy franc in 1961, a deliberate reassertion of indigenous numerical tradition that most post-colonial states never attempted.
KM#31 is part of a long-running stainless steel series that replaced earlier bimetallic and aluminum-bronze issues as Madagascar's central bank rationalized coinage costs following chronic foreign exchange shortages in the 2000s.