What this currency converter does
This tool converts a money amount from one currency to another using the European Central Bank's "Euro foreign exchange reference rates" — a daily snapshot of how many units of each currency equal one euro, published around 16:00 CET on TARGET business days. The conversion arithmetic itself is universal; only the rate source is region-flavored. The converter ships with a date-stamped snapshot table so you always know how current the figures are.
How to use it
Pick the currency you are converting From, the currency you want To, and enter the Value to Convert. The result shows the converted amount plus the unit exchange rate in both directions: how much 1 unit of the From currency buys, and how much 1 unit of the To currency buys back. Negative inputs are treated as their absolute value, and converting a currency to itself returns the amount unchanged.
The formula explained
Every rate is stored EUR-based: \(r_X\) = units of currency X per 1 EUR (EUR itself = 1). To go from currency FROM to currency TO, the engine computes a cross-rate through the euro: first turn the amount into euros by dividing by \(r_{FROM}\), then turn euros into the target by multiplying by \(r_{TO}\). That collapses to $$\text{Converted} = A \times \dfrac{r_{TO}}{r_{FROM}}$$ The unit rate \(1\ \text{FROM} = r_{TO} / r_{FROM}\ \text{TO}\), and its reciprocal gives \(1\ \text{TO} = r_{FROM} / r_{TO}\ \text{FROM}\).
Worked example
Convert 50 USD to JPY with snapshot rates \(r_{USD} = 1.0800\) and \(r_{JPY} = 170.00\). The pair rate is $$\frac{170.00}{1.0800} = 157.407\ \text{JPY per USD}$$ So $$50 \times 157.407 = 7{,}870.37\ \text{JPY}$$ The unit rates are \(1\ \text{USD} = 157.41\ \text{JPY}\) and \(1\ \text{JPY} = 1 / 157.407 = 0.0063529\ \text{USD}\).
FAQ
Are these live rates? No. The table is a dated snapshot of ECB-style reference rates. Always check the "rates as of" stamp; live mid-market and retail rates will differ.
Why do the two unit rates multiply to 1? They are exact reciprocals: $$\text{rate}_{TO \to FROM} = \dfrac{1}{\text{rate}_{FROM \to TO}}$$
What about retired currencies like HRK, LTL and LVL? They are kept at their fixed legacy euro conversion rates for historical conversions, but are no longer updated by the ECB.