diff --git a/odoo/addons/base/res/res_currency.py b/odoo/addons/base/res/res_currency.py
index 0ee76e0567c..c250d8e374d 100644
--- a/odoo/addons/base/res/res_currency.py
+++ b/odoo/addons/base/res/res_currency.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ class CurrencyRate(models.Model):
 
     name = fields.Datetime(string='Date', required=True, index=True,
                            default=lambda self: fields.Date.today() + ' 00:00:00')
-    rate = fields.Float(digits=(12, 6), help='The rate of the currency to the currency of rate 1')
+    rate = fields.Float(digits=(12, 6), default=1.0, help='The rate of the currency to the currency of rate 1')
     currency_id = fields.Many2one('res.currency', string='Currency', readonly=True)
     company_id = fields.Many2one('res.company', string='Company',
                                  default=lambda self: self.env.user.company_id)