LEARN FOREX Introduction To Forex Lesson 2: Majors, Currency Pairs and Base Currency
Majors
Most commonly traded currencies are referred to as MAJORS. Below is the list of currency abbreviations which we recommend to memorize.
|
Majors |
Abbreviation ( ISO code) |
|
US Dollar |
USD |
|
Japanese Yen |
JPY |
|
Euro |
EUR |
|
British Pound |
GBP |
|
Canadian Dollar |
CAD |
|
Australian Dollar |
AUD |
|
Swiss Franc |
CHF |
Currency Pair
As a foreign currency trader you have to know the abbreviations of the commonly traded currencies (the Majors). Since you trade one currency for another, the currencies you chose to do business with will be shown in pairs. For example:
|
Currency Pair |
Meaning |
|
USD/JPY |
US Dollar vs the Japanese Yen |
|
EUR/USD |
Euro vs US Dollar |
|
USD/CHF |
US Dollar vs Swiss franc |
|
GBP/USD |
British Pound vs US Dollar |
Base and Counter/Quote Currencies
The first currency in a currency pair (the one on the left side from the slash "/ ") is called base currency. Base currency always has a value of 1. The second currency in the currency pair (the one on the right side from the slash "/") is called counter currency or quote currency.
For example: EUR/USD
EUR – base currency with value of 1.
USD – quote (or counter) currency
