Supported Currencies (/symbols)

Overview

The symbols endpoint returns detailed information about all currencies supported by the Exchange Rates API. This includes currency names, symbols, country information, and notes about special currencies.

This endpoint is public and doesn’t require authentication. It’s perfect for building currency selection dropdowns and validation logic.

Request

curl https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/symbols

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "symbols": {
    "AUD": {
      "name": "Australian Dollar",
      "symbol": "$",
      "country": "Australia"
    },
    "USD": {
      "name": "US Dollar", 
      "symbol": "$",
      "country": "United States"
    },
    "EUR": {
      "name": "Euro",
      "symbol": "€",
      "country": "European Union"
    },
    "GBP": {
      "name": "British Pound Sterling",
      "symbol": "£", 
      "country": "United Kingdom"
    },
    "JPY": {
      "name": "Japanese Yen",
      "symbol": "¥",
      "country": "Japan"
    },
    "TWI": {
      "name": "Trade-Weighted Index",
      "symbol": "TWI",
      "country": "Australia"
    },
    "SDR": {
      "name": "Special Drawing Rights",
      "symbol": "SDR",
      "country": "IMF"
    }
  },
  "count": 21,
  "base": "AUD",
  "note": "All rates are quoted as AUD per unit of foreign currency from the Reserve Bank of Australia"
}

success

boolean

required

Always true for successful responses

symbols

object

required

Object containing currency information keyed by ISO 4217 currency code

symbols.{code}.name

string

required

Full name of the currency

symbols.{code}.symbol

string

required

Currency symbol or abbreviation used for display

symbols.{code}.country

string

required

Country or region where the currency is used

count

number

required

Total number of supported currencies

base

string

required

Base currency for all exchange rates (always “AUD”)

note

string

General information about how rates are quoted

Supported Currencies

Major Global Currencies

Code	Name	Symbol	Country
USD	US Dollar	$	United States
EUR	Euro	€	European Union
GBP	British Pound Sterling	£	United Kingdom
JPY	Japanese Yen	¥	Japan
CHF	Swiss Franc	CHF	Switzerland
CAD	Canadian Dollar	$	Canada

Asia-Pacific Region

Code	Name	Symbol	Country
CNY	Chinese Renminbi	¥	China
KRW	South Korean Won	₩	South Korea
SGD	Singapore Dollar	$	Singapore
NZD	New Zealand Dollar	$	New Zealand
HKD	Hong Kong Dollar	$	Hong Kong
TWD	Taiwan New Dollar	NT$	Taiwan
INR	Indian Rupee	₹	India
THB	Thai Baht	฿	Thailand
MYR	Malaysian Ringgit	RM	Malaysia
IDR	Indonesian Rupiah¹	Rp	Indonesia
VND	Vietnamese Dong¹	₫	Vietnam
PHP	Philippine Peso	₱	Philippines

¹ IDR and VND Precision: Indonesian Rupiah and Vietnamese Dong are provided as whole numbers (no decimal places) by the Reserve Bank of Australia source data.

Special Currencies

Code	Name	Symbol	Notes
AUD	Australian Dollar	$	Base currency
TWI	Trade-Weighted Index	TWI	Australia’s trade-weighted index; not available for conversion
SDR	Special Drawing Rights	SDR	International Monetary Fund reserve asset

TWI Conversion Restriction: The Trade-Weighted Index (TWI) is included in rate listings but cannot be used in conversion operations (/convert endpoint). Using TWI as from or to parameter will return a 400 error.

Building Currency Dropdowns

Use the symbols endpoint to populate currency selection interfaces:

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

function CurrencySelect({ onSelect, excludeTWI = false }) {
  const [currencies, setCurrencies] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    async function fetchCurrencies() {
      try {
        const response = await fetch('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/symbols');
        const data = await response.json();
        
        let currencyList = Object.entries(data.symbols).map(([code, info]) => ({
          code,
          name: info.name,
          symbol: info.symbol,
          country: info.country,
          hasNote: !!info.note
        }));
        
        // Optionally exclude TWI for conversion interfaces
        if (excludeTWI) {
          currencyList = currencyList.filter(c => c.code !== 'TWI');
        }
        
        // Sort alphabetically by code
        currencyList.sort((a, b) => a.code.localeCompare(b.code));
        
        setCurrencies(currencyList);
      } catch (error) {
        console.error('Failed to fetch currencies:', error);
      } finally {
        setLoading(false);
      }
    }

    fetchCurrencies();
  }, [excludeTWI]);

  if (loading) return <div>Loading currencies...</div>;

  return (
    <select onChange={(e) => onSelect(e.target.value)}>
      <option value="">Select currency...</option>
      {currencies.map((currency) => (
        <option key={currency.code} value={currency.code}>
          {currency.code} - {currency.name} ({currency.symbol})
        </option>
      ))}
    </select>
  );
}

Validation Logic

Use the symbols data for input validation:

class CurrencyValidator {
  constructor() {
    this.supportedCurrencies = new Set();
    this.conversionBlacklist = new Set(['TWI']); // Currencies not allowed for conversion
    this.loadCurrencies();
  }
  
  async loadCurrencies() {
    try {
      const response = await fetch('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/symbols');
      const data = await response.json();
      
      this.supportedCurrencies = new Set(Object.keys(data.symbols));
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Failed to load currency symbols:', error);
      // Fallback to hardcoded list
      this.supportedCurrencies = new Set(['AUD', 'USD', 'EUR', 'GBP', 'JPY']);
    }
  }
  
  isValidCurrency(code) {
    return this.supportedCurrencies.has(code.toUpperCase());
  }
  
  canConvert(fromCode, toCode) {
    const from = fromCode.toUpperCase();
    const to = toCode.toUpperCase();
    
    return this.isValidCurrency(from) && 
           this.isValidCurrency(to) &&
           !this.conversionBlacklist.has(from) &&
           !this.conversionBlacklist.has(to);
  }
}

// Usage
const validator = new CurrencyValidator();

// Validate user input
if (!validator.isValidCurrency('XYZ')) {
  console.error('XYZ is not a supported currency');
}

// Check conversion compatibility
if (!validator.canConvert('AUD', 'TWI')) {
  console.error('TWI cannot be used for conversion operations');
}

Response Headers

HTTP/2 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Cache-Control: public, max-age=86400
X-Request-Id: 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000
X-Response-Time: 12ms

The symbols endpoint is cached for 24 hours (max-age=86400) since supported currencies rarely change. This helps improve performance and reduces unnecessary requests.

Common Use Cases

1. Currency Selection Interface

Build dropdown menus or search interfaces for currency selection.

2. Input Validation

Validate user-provided currency codes before making API requests.

3. Display Formatting

Use currency symbols and names for user-friendly display of rates and amounts.

4. Feature Detection

Check if specific currencies are supported before implementing features.

5. Conversion Compatibility

Determine which currencies can be used with the /convert endpoint (excluding TWI).

Error Responses

The symbols endpoint is highly reliable, but may occasionally return errors:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": 503,
    "type": "service_unavailable",
    "info": "Symbols service temporarily unavailable"
  }
}

In such cases, implement fallback logic with a hardcoded list of major currencies to maintain functionality.

Response

200 - application/json

List of supported currencies

success

boolean

required

Example:

true

symbols

object

required

Show child attributes

count

integer

required

Number of supported currencies

base

string

required

Example:

"AUD"

note

string

required

Public Endpoints

Authenticated Endpoints

API Reference

Overview

Request

Response

Supported Currencies

Major Global Currencies

Asia-Pacific Region

Special Currencies

Building Currency Dropdowns

Validation Logic

Response Headers

Common Use Cases

1. Currency Selection Interface

2. Input Validation

3. Display Formatting

4. Feature Detection

5. Conversion Compatibility

Error Responses

Response

Public Endpoints

Authenticated Endpoints

API Reference

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Request

​Response

​Supported Currencies

​Major Global Currencies

​Asia-Pacific Region

​Special Currencies

​Building Currency Dropdowns

​Validation Logic

​Response Headers

​Common Use Cases

​1. Currency Selection Interface

​2. Input Validation

​3. Display Formatting

​4. Feature Detection

​5. Conversion Compatibility

​Error Responses

Response

Overview

Request

Response

Supported Currencies

Major Global Currencies

Asia-Pacific Region

Special Currencies

Building Currency Dropdowns

Validation Logic

Response Headers

Common Use Cases

1. Currency Selection Interface

2. Input Validation

3. Display Formatting

4. Feature Detection

5. Conversion Compatibility

Error Responses