Czech koruna
The koruna is the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993, in English it is sometimes referred to as Czech crown or Czech krone. The koruna is one of European Union's 11 currencies, the Czech Republic is bound to adopt the euro currency in the future; the official name in Czech is koruna česká. The ISO 4217 code is CZK and the local acronym is Kč, placed after the numeric value or sometimes before it. One koruna equals 100 haléřů, but haléře have been withdrawn, the smallest unit of physical currency is 1 Kč. In 1892, the Austro-Hungarian krone replaced the gulden, at the rate of one gulden equaling two kronen; the name "krone" was invented by Franz Joseph I of Austria. After Austria-Hungary dissolved in 1918, the only successor state that kept the name of the currency, the koruna, was Czechoslovakia. In the late 1920s, the Czechoslovak koruna was the hardest currency in Europe. During the Second World War, the currency on the occupied Czech territory was artificially weakened; the Czechoslovak koruna was restored after the war.
It underwent a controversial monetary reform in 1953. The Czech koruna replaced the Czechoslovak koruna when it was introduced in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, it first consisted of overstamped 20-, 50-, 100-, 500-, 1000-Czechoslovak koruna banknotes, but a new series was properly introduced in 1993. In November 2013, the Czech National Bank intervened to weaken the exchange rate of the koruna through a monetary stimulus to stop the currency from excessive strengthening. In late 2016, the ČNB stated that the return to conventional monetary policy was planned for mid-2017. After higher-than-expected inflation and other figures, the national bank removed the cap on a special monetary meeting on April 6, 2017; the koruna avoided significant volatility and City Index Group stated: "If you want to drop a currency peg the ČNB can show you how to do it". The Czech Republic planned to adopt the euro in 2010, but its government suspended that plan indefinitely in 2005. Although the country is economically well positioned to adopt the euro, there is considerable opposition to the move within the Czech Republic.
According to a survey conducted in April 2014, only 16% of the Czech population was in favour of replacing the koruna with the euro. As reported by an April 2018 survey by CVVM, this value has remained at nearly identical levels over the past four years, with only 20% of the Czech population above 15 years old supporting euro adoption; the coins of the Czech koruna increase in weight with value. In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 haléřů, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 korun; the 10- and 20-haléřů coins were taken out of circulation by 31 October 2003 and the 50-haléřů coins by 31 August 2008 due to their diminishing purchasing power and circulation. However, financial amounts are still written with the accuracy of 1-haléř; when transactions are made, the amount is rounded to the nearest integer. In 2000, the 10- and 20-korun coins were minted with different obverses to commemorate the millennium. In 1993 and 1994, coins were minted in Winnipeg and Hamburg in the Czech Republic.
The 10- and 50-korun coins were designed by Ladislav Kozák. Since 1997, sets for collectors are issued yearly with proof-quality coins. A tradition exists of issuing commemorative coins – including silver and gold coins – for numismatic purposes. For a complete listing, see Commemorative coins of the Czech Republic; the first Czech banknotes were issued on 8 February 1993 and consisted of Czechoslovak notes with adhesive stamps affixed to them. Only the 100-, 500- and 1,000-korun notes were overstamped, the lower denominations circulated unchanged during this transitional period; each stamp bears a Roman and Arabic numeral identifying the denomination of the banknote to which it is affixed. Subsequent issues of the 1,000-korun note replaced the adhesive stamp with a printed image of same. A newly designed series of banknotes in denominations of 20-, 50-, 100-, 200-, 500-, 1,000 and 5,000-korun were introduced in 1993 and are still in use at present – except for 20, 50 and the first versions of 1,000 and 5,000 korun notes, since the security features of 1,000 and 5,000 notes were upgraded in the subsequent issues.
These banknotes feature renowned Czech persons on the obverse and abstract compositions on the reverse. Modern protective elements can be found on all banknotes; the Greater coat of arms of the Czech Republic can be found on the reverse side of all denominations. For the 100th anniversary of the Czechoslovak koruna, a new banknote will be created, featuring the face of Czech politician Alois Rašín. There is an overprint on the normal 100 Korun note as second commemorative note
Azerbaijani manat
The manat is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 qəpik; the Azerbaijani manat symbol, ₼, was assigned to Unicode U+20BC in 2013. A lowercase m can be used as a substitute for the manat symbol; the word manat is borrowed from the Russian word Монета "moneta", pronounced as "maneta" and is a loanword from Latin. Manat was the designation of the Soviet ruble in both the Azerbaijani and Turkmen languages; the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its successor the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic issued their own currency between 1919 and 1923. The currency was called the manat in Azerbaijani and the ruble in Russian, with the denominations written in both languages on the banknotes; the manat replaced the first Transcaucasian ruble at par and was replaced by the second Transcaucasian ruble after Azerbaijan became part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. No subdivisions were issued, the currency only existed as banknotes; the Democratic Republic issued notes in denominations of 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 manat, whilst the Soviet Socialist Republic issued notes in denominations of 5.
The second manat was introduced on 15 August 1992. It replaced the Soviet ruble at a rate of 10 rubles to 1 manat. From early 2002 to early 2005, the exchange rate was stable. Starting in the spring of 2005 there was a slight but steady increase in the value of the manat against the US dollar. At the end of 2005, one dollar was worth 4591 manat. Banknotes below 100 manat had disappeared by 2005, as had the qəpik coins. Coins were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 qəpik, dated 1992 and 1993. Although brass and cupro-nickel were used for some of the 1992 issues issues were all in aluminium; these coins were used in circulation. The following banknotes were issued for this currency 1, 5, 10, 250 manat 50, 100, 500, 1000 manat 10,000 manat 50,000 manat Banknotes with denominations from 1 to 250 manat featured Baku's Maiden Tower. On 1 January 2006, a new manat was introduced at a ratio of 1 new manat to 5,000 old manat. From 1 October 2005, prices were indicated both in old manat to ease transition.
Coins denominated in qəpik, which had not been used from 1993 onward due to inflation, were reintroduced with the re-denomination. The former manat remained valid through 31 December 2006; the new banknotes and Azerbaijani Manat symbol, ₼, were designed by Robert Kalina in 2006, the symbol was added to Unicode in 2013, after failed addition proposals between 2008 and 2011. The final Azeri Manat symbol design was inspired by the design of the Euro sign, based on an initial proposal by Mykyta Yevstifeyev, resembles a single-bar Euro sign rotated 90° clockwise; the manat symbol is displayed to the right of the amount. Coins in circulation are 3, 5, 10, 20 and 50 qəpik. Most coins resemble the size and shape of various euro coins. Most notably the bimetallic 50 qəpik and the 10 qəpik. Coins do not feature a mint year. Banknotes in circulation are 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 manat, they were designed by Austrian banknote designer Robert Kalina, who designed the current banknotes of the euro and the Syrian Pound.
The notes look quite similar to those of the euro and the choice of motifs was inspired by the euro banknotes. In 2009 the Azərbaycan Milli Bankı was renamed the Azərbaycan Respublikasının Mərkəzi Bankı. In 2010, the 1-manat banknote was issued with the new name of the issuing bank, in 2012 a 5-manat banknote was issued with the new name of the issuing bank and in 2017 a 100-manat banknote dated 2013 was issued with the new name of the issuing bank. In 2011 Azerbaijan's Ministry of Finance announced it was considering to issue notes of 2 and 3 manat as well as notes with values larger than 100 manat. In February 2013 the Central Bank of Azerbaijan announced it would not introduce larger denomination notes until at least 2014. In 2018, a 200-manat banknote was issued to commemorate Heydar Aliyev's 95th birthday. Before Feb 2015: $1 = 0.8 AZN Feb - Dec 2015: $1 = 1.05 AZN Dec 2015 - Apr 2017: Free floating May 2017 onwards: $1 = 1.7 AZN 1 manat 5 manat 10 manat Central Bank of Azerbaijan Turkmenistan manat Economy of Azerbaijan Banking in Azerbaijan Der Standard article on the redenomination Azerbaijan Manat: Catalog of Banknotes Azerbaijan International.
Azerbaijan's New Manats: Design and Transition to a New Currency Catalog of Azeri coins and banknotes Coins of Azerbaijan at CISCoins.net
Polish złoty
The złoty, the masculine form of the Polish adjective'golden', is the currency of Poland. The modern złoty is subdivided into 100 groszy; the recognised English form of the word is zloty. The currency sign, zł, is composed of the Polish lower-case letters z and ł; as a result of inflation in the early 1990s, the currency underwent redenomination. Thus, on 1 January 1995, 10,000 old złotych became one new złoty. Since the currency has been stable, with an exchange rate fluctuating between 3 and 4 złoty for a United States dollar; the predecessors of the złoty were the kopa. The grzywna was a currency, equivalent to 210 g of silver, in the 11th century, it was in use until sometime in the 14th century. At the same time, first as a complement to the grzywna, as the main currency, came the grosz and the kopa. Poland made the grosz as an imitation of the Prague groschen. A grzywna was worth 48 groszy; the złoty is a traditional Polish currency unit dating back to the late Middle Ages. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the name was used for all kinds of foreign gold coins used in Poland, most notably Venetian and Hungarian ducats.
One złoty at the beginning of their introduction cost 12–14 groszy. In 1496 the Sejm approved the creation of a national currency, the złoty, its value was set at 30 groszy, a coin minted since 1347 and modelled on the Prague groschen, a ducat, whose value was 1 1⁄2 złoty; the 1:30 proportion stayed, but the grosz became cheaper and cheaper, because the proportion of silver in the coin alloy diminished over time. In the beginning of the 16th century, 1 złoty was worth 32 groszy; the name złoty was used for a number of different coins, including the 30-groszy coin called the polski złoty, the czerwony złoty and the złoty reński, which were in circulation at the time. However, the value of the Polish złoty dropped over time relative to these foreign coins, it became a silver coin, with the foreign ducats circulating at 5 złotych; the matters were complicated by the intricate system of coins, with denominations as low as 1⁄3 groszy and as high as 12,960 groszy fit into one coin. There were no usual decimal denominations we use today: the system used 4, 6, 8, 9 and 18 groszy, which are now most uncommon.
Moreover, there was no central mint, apart from Warsaw mint, there were the Gdańsk, Elbląg and Kurland separate mints which did not produce the same denomination coins with the same materials. For example, the szeląg had 1.3g of copper while minted in either Kraków or Warsaw, but the local Gdańsk and Elbląg mints made it using only 0.63g of copper. This facilitated forgeries and wreaked havoc in the Polish monetary system Following the monetary reform carried out by King Stanisław II Augustus which aimed to simplify the system, the złoty became Poland's official currency and the exchange rate of 1 złoty to 30 copper groszy was confirmed; the king established the system, based on the Cologne mark. Each mark was divided into 10 Conventionsthaler of the Holy Roman Empire, 1 thaler was worth 8 złotych; the system was in place until 1787. Two devaluations of the currency occurred in the years before the final partition of Poland. After the third partition of Poland, the name złoty existed only in Russian lands.
Prussia had introduced the mark instead. On 8 June 1794 the decision of the Polish Supreme Council offered to make the new banknotes as well as the coins. 13 August 1794 was the date. At the day there was more than 6.65 million złotych given out by the rebels. There were banknotes with the denomination of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 złotych, as well as 5 and 10 groszy, 1 and 4 złoty coins However, it did not last for long: on 8 November, Warsaw was held by Russia. Russians declared them invalid. Russian coins and banknotes replaced the Kościuszko banknotes, but the division on złote and grosze stayed; this can be explained by the fact the Polish monetary system in the deep crisis, was better than the Russian stable one, as Poland used the silver standard for coins. That is why Mikhail Speransky offered to come to silver monometalism in his work План финансов in Russia, he argued that: "... at the same time... forbid any other account in Livonia and Poland, this is the only way to unify the financial system of these provinces in the Russian system, as well they will stop, at least, the damage that pulls back our finances for so long."
The złoty remained in circulation after the Partitions of Poland and the Duchy of Warsaw issued coins denominated in grosz, złoty and talar, worth 6 złoty. Talar banknotes were issued. In 1813, while Zamość was under siege, Zam
Albanian lek
The lek is the official currency of Albania. It was subdivided into 100 qindarka, but qindarka are no longer issued; the lek was introduced as the first Albanian currency in February 1926. Before Albania was a country without a currency, adhering to a gold standard for the fixation of commercial values. Before the First World War the Ottoman Turkish piastre was in full circulation, but following the military occupation of the country by various continental powers the gold franc was adopted as the monetary unit. In 1923 Italian paper circulated at Shkodër, Durrës, Vlorë, Gjirokastër, the Greek drachma at Korçë, the values of which varied according to locality and the prevailing rates of exchange as compared with gold; the lek was named after Alexander the Great, whose name is shortened to Leka in Albanian. Alexander's portrait appeared on the obverse of the 1 lek coin, while the reverse showed him on his horse; the name qindarkë comes from the Albanian qind. The word is thus similar in formation to centime, etc.
Between 1926 and 1939 the name Franga was used for Albanian gold currency worth five Albanian Leke for use in international transactions. A similar alternate name Belga was used for units of five Belgian francs. In 1926, bronze coins were introduced in denominations of 5 and 10 qindar leku, together with nickel 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 lek, silver 1, 2 and 5 franga ar; the obverse of the franga coins depicts Amet Zogu. In 1935, bronze 1 and 2 qindar ar were issued, equal in value to the 5 and 10 qindar leku respectively; this coin series depicted distinct neoclassical motifs, said to have been influenced by the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III, known to have been a coin collector. These coins depict the mint marks "R", "V" or "L", indicating Vienna or London. Under the direction of Benito Mussolini, Italy invaded and occupied Albania and issued a new series of coins in 1939 in denominations 0.20, 0.50, 1 and 2 lek in stainless steel, silver 5, 10 lek were introduced, with the silver coins only issued that year.
Aluminium-bronze 0.05 and 0.10 lek were introduced in 1940. These coins were issued until 1941 and bear the portrait of Italian King Victor Emmanuel III on the obverse and the Albanian eagle with fasces on the reverse. In 1947, shortly after the Communist Party took power, older coins were withdrawn from circulation and a new coinage was introduced, consisting of zinc 1⁄2, 1, 2 and 5 lekë; these all depicted the socialist national crest. This coinage was again minted in 1957 and used until the currency reform of 1965. In 1965, aluminium coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 qindar and 1 lek. All coins show the socialist state emblem. In 1969, a second series of aluminum 5, 10, 20, 50 qindar and 1 lek coins was released commemorating the 1944 liberation from fascism; the three smallest denominations remained similar in design to the 1964 series but depicted "1944-1969" on the obverse. The 50 qindarka and lek coins showed military images. In 1988, a third redesign of aluminum 5, 10, 20, 50 qindarka and 1 lek coins was released.
The 50 qindarka and 1 lek coins were problematically identical in size and appearance, so aluminum-bronze 1 lek coins with the inscription "Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë" were released that year for better identification. In 1989, a cupro-nickel 2 lekë coin was introduced. All three of these coin series remained in circulation during and shortly after the 1991 revolution. In 1995 and 1996, new coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lekë, with a bimetallic 100 lekë added in 2000; the 1 lek coin is not in use. In 2001, 100 and 200 Leke were issued under the theme of Albania's integration into the EU and 50, 100, 200 Leke under the 500th anniversary of the Statue of David. In 2002, 50 Leke and 100 Leke were issued for the 90th Anniversary of the Independence of Albania and 20 Leke under the Albanian Antiquity theme. In 2003, 50 Leke was issued in memory of the 100th anniversary of the death of Jeronim De Rada. In 2004, 50 Leke was issued under the Albanian Antiquty theme depicting traditional costumes of Albania and the ancient Dea.
In 2005, 50 Leke were issued for the 85th anniversary of the proclamation of Tirana as capital and the theme of traditional costumes of Albania. In 1926, the National Bank of Albania introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 20 and 100 franka ari. In 1939, notes were issued denominated as 20 franga; these were followed in 1944 with notes for 2, 5 and 10 100 franga. In 1945, the People's Bank of Albania issued overprints on National Bank notes for 10 lek, 20 and 100 franga. Regular notes were issued in 1945 in denominations of 1, 5, 20, 100 and 500 franga. In 1947, the lek was adopted as the main denominations, with notes issued for 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 lekë. In 1965, notes were introduced by the Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 lekë. A second series of notes was issued in 1976 when the country changed its name to the People's Socialist Republic. On 11 July 1997, a new series of banknotes dated 1996 was introduced. Notes dated 1996 were printed by De La Rue in the United Kingdom.
Economy of Albania Albanian Lek: Full detailed Catalog of Banknotes of Albania since 1926 All Albanian coins and additional information Coin Types from Albania Lists and values of Albanian coin types Albanian Banknotes All series of Banknotes, Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Historical and current banknotes of Albania
Belarusian ruble
The Belarusian ruble or rouble is the official currency of Belarus. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kapeks; as a result of the breakup of the supply chain in the former Soviet enterprises, goods started to be bought and sold in the market requiring cash settlement. The Belarusian unit of the USSR State Bank had neither the capacity nor the licence to print Soviet banknotes, so the government decided to introduce its own national currency to ease the cash situation; the German word Thaler, divided into 100 Groschen was suggested as the name for a Belarusian currency. In the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania of which Belarus was a major part, the word ruble has been used as a name for a currency in circulation. From the collapse of the Soviet Union until May 1992, the Soviet ruble circulated in Belarus alongside the Belarusian ruble. New Russian banknotes circulated in Belarus, but they were replaced by notes issued by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus in May 1992; the first post-Soviet Belarusian ruble was assigned the ISO code BYB and replaced the Soviet currency at the rate of 1 Belarusian ruble = 10 Soviet rubles.
It took. In 2000, a new ruble was introduced, replacing the first at a rate of 1 BYR = 1,000 BYB; this was redenomination with three zeros removed. Only banknotes have been issued, with the only coins issued being commemoratives for collectors. From the beginning of his presidency in 1994, Alyaksandr Lukashenka began to suggest the idea of integration with the Russian Federation and to undertake steps in this direction. From the beginning, there was an idea of introducing a united currency for the Union of Russia and Belarus. Art. 13 of the 1999 "Treaty of Creation of the Union State of Russia and Belarus" foresaw a unified currency. Discussions about the Union currency has continued past the 2005 implementation goal set by both nations. Starting in 2008, the Central Bank of the Republic of Belarus announced that the ruble would be tied to the United States dollar instead of to the Russian ruble. "Stanislav Bogdankevich, a former bank chairman, called the decision political, saying it was tied to Belarus' open displeasure at Russia's decision to hike oil and gas export prices to Belarus earlier this year.
Belarus' economy is Soviet-style, centrally controlled and has been reliant on cheap energy supplies from Russia". In July 2016, a new ruble was introduced, at a rate of 1 BYN = 10,000 BYR. Old and new rubles circulated in parallel from July 1 to December 31, 2016. Belarus issued coins for general circulation for the first time. Seven denominations of banknotes and eight denominations of coins are in circulation on July 1, 2016; the banknotes show 2009 as an issue date. Their designs are similar to those of the euro. In 2016, for the first time in the whole history of the Belarusian ruble, coins were introduced due to the redenomination. Belarus was one of the few countries in the world never to have issued coins. Slovakia has offered to mint the coins, has provided prototypes; the coins of up to 5 kapeks are struck in copper-plated steel. All coins show the National emblem of Belarus, the inscription'БЕЛАРУСЬ' and the year of minting on their obverse; the reverse shows the value of the coin accompanied by different ornaments with their own meanings.
Belarus is a large producer of commemorative coinage for the numismatic market, most gold and silver bullion coins and non-circulating legal tender. The first coins of the Republic of Belarus were issued on December 27, 1996, their designs range from commonplace to unique and innovative. A majority of these coins have a face value of 1 ruble, there are a few denominated as 3, 5 rubles and higher amounts. All these coins are unlikely to be seen in general circulation. In 1992, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 50 kapeks, 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 rubles; these were followed by 20,000 rubles in 1994, 50,000 rubles in 1995, 100,000 rubles in 1996, 500,000 rubles in 1998 and 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 rubles in 1999. In 2000, notes were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 rubles. In 2001, higher denominations of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 rubles were introduced, followed by 100,000 rubles in 2005 and 200,000 rubles in 2012. There were no banknotes issued in kapecks.
"On 1 September 2010, new rules of Belarusian orthography came into force. According to the old rules, the correct spelling of the word “fifty” in Belarusian was “пяцьдзесят,” but under the new rules, it should be spelled “пяцьдзясят,” the difference being that the seventh character was the Cyrillic letter IE but is now the Cyrillic letter YA; as a result of these ne
Maltese scudo
The scudo is the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and was the currency of Malta during the rule of the Order over Malta, which ended in 1798. It is subdivided into each of 20 grani with 6 piccoli to the grano, it is pegged to the euro. The scudo was first minted in Rhodes in 1318. By 1500 the coins had the distinctive characteristics of a cross and the Order's and Grandmaster's coat of arms on one side, the head of St. John the Baptist on the other; the scudo was first minted in Malta during the reign of Piero de Ponte. The quality of the coins improved during the reign of António Manoel de Vilhena in the early 18th century. At some points in time, foreign coinage was allowed to circulate in Malta alongside the scudo; these included Venetian lire, Louis d'or and other currencies. During the French occupation of Malta in 1798, the French authorities melted down some of the silver from the island's churches and struck them into 15 and 30 tarì coins from the 1798 dies of Grandmaster Hompesch.
After the Maltese rebellion and silver ingots were stamped with a face value in grani, tarì and scudi and they circulated as coinage in Valletta and the surrounding area. The scudo continued to circulate on the island of Malta, which had become a British colony, along with some other currencies until they were all replaced by the pound in 1825, at a rate of 1 pound to 12 scudi using British coinage. Despite this, some scudi remained in use and the last coins were withdrawn from circulation and demonetized in November 1886. 1 scudo in 1886 had the spending power equivalent to £3.82 or €4.35 in 2011. The present-day Republic of Malta adopted the decimal Maltese lira in 1972, the euro in 2008; the SMOM, now based in Rome, has issued souvenir coins denominated in grani, tarì and scudi since 1961. The 1961 issues were minted in Rome, while mints in Paris and Arezzo were used in 1962 and 1963. From 1964 onwards coins were minted in the Order's own mint; the scudo is only intended to be recognised as legal tender within the Order itself.
The scudo was the currency used on the Order's stamps from 1961 to 2005, when the euro began to be used. Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2 1⁄2, 5 and 10 grani, 1, 2, 4 and 6 tarì, 1, 1 1⁄4, 1 1⁄3, 2, 2 1⁄2, 5, 10 and 20 scudi; the 1, 2 1⁄2, 5 and 10 grani and 1 tarì were minted in copper, with the 2 1⁄2 grani denominated as 15 piccoli. The 2, 4 and 6 tarì, 1, 1 1⁄4, 1 1⁄3, 2 and 2 1⁄2 scudi were silver coins, with the 1 1⁄4, 1 1⁄3 and 2 1⁄2 scudi denominated as 15, 16 and 30 tarì; the 5, 10, 20 scudi coins were gold. Coins minted today include bronze 10 grani, silver 9 tarì, 1 and 2 scudi and gold 5 and 10 scudi. In 2011, a gold coin of António Manoel de Vilhena minted in 1725 sold for US$340,000
Kazakhstani tenge
The tenge is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tıyn; the ISO-4217 code is KZT. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, attempts were made by most republics to maintain a common currency; some politicians were hoping to at least maintain "special relations" among former Soviet republics, or the "near abroad". Other reasons were the economic considerations for maintaining the ruble zone; the wish to preserve strong trade relations between former Soviet republics was considered the most important goal. The break-up of the Soviet Union was not accompanied by any formal changes in monetary arrangements; the Central Bank of Russia was authorized to take over the State Bank of the USSR on 1 January 1992. It continued to ship USSR ruble notes and coins to the central banks of the eleven newly independent countries, the main branches of Gosbank in the republics; the political situation, was not favorable for maintaining a common currency. Maintaining a common currency requires a strong political consensus in respect to monetary and fiscal targets, a common institution in charge of implementing these targets, some minimum of common legislation.
These conditions were far from being met amidst the turbulent political situation. During the first half of 1992, a monetary union with 15 independent states all using the ruble existed. Since it was clear that the situation would not last, each of them was using its position as "free-riders" to issue huge amounts of money in the form of credit; as a result, some countries were issuing coupons in order to "protect" their markets from buyers from other states. The Russian central bank responded in July 1992 by setting up restrictions to the flow of credit between Russia and other states; the final collapse of the ruble zone began when Russia pulled out with the exchange of banknotes by the Central bank of Russia on Russian territory at the end of July 1993. As a result and other countries still in the ruble zone were "pushed out". On November 12, 1993, a decree of the President of Kazakhstan, "About introducing national currency of Republic of Kazakhstan", was issued; the tenge was introduced on 15 November 1993 to replace the Soviet ruble at a rate of 1 tenge = 500 rubles.
In 1991 a "special group" of designers was created: Mendybay Alin, Timur Suleymenov, Asimsaly Duzelkhanov and Khayrulla Gabzhalilov. As such, November 15 is celebrated as the "Day of National Currency of Republic of Kazakhstan". In 1995, a tenge printing factory was opened in Kazakhstan; the first consignment of tenge was printed abroad, in the UK. The first coins were minted in Germany. In February 2019, the President of Kazakhstan signed a bill into law that will remove all Russian captions from future tenge banknotes, as it is not a state language; the word tenge in the Kazakh and most other Turkic languages means a set of scales. The origin of the word is the Turkic teŋ -, balance; the name of this currency is thus similar to the taka, lira and peso. The name of the currency is related to the Russian word for money Russian: деньги/ den'gi, borrowed from Turkic. In autumn 2006, the National Bank of Kazakhstan organized a competition for the symbol of the Kazakhstan Tenge and received over 30,000 applications.
On March 20, 2007, two days before the Nauryz holiday, the National Bank of Kazakhstan approved a graphical symbol for the Tenge: ₸. On March 29, 2007, the Bank announced two designers from Almaty, Vadim Davydenko and Sanzhar Amirkhanov, as winners for the creation of the symbol of the Kazakhstan Tenge, they shared the title of "parents" of the Kazakhstan Tenge symbol. The character was proposed for encoding in Unicode in 2008, was included in Unicode 5.2.0 at code point U+20B8. While older coins were struck in Germany, current coins are struck domestically, by the Kazakhstan Mint in Oskemen. In 1993, the first series of coins were introduced in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyin featuring the national arms and were struck in bronze. 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 tenge were depicted stylized and mythical animals. The coins of this period circulated alongside tiyin and low denomination tenge notes of equal value. In 1998, a new series of coins was introduced, which excluded the tiyin having 1 tenge being the smallest denomination.
100 tenge were introduced in 2002 replacing the equivalent notes. An irregular 2 tenge coin was introduced in 2005. In 2013 the alloy of lower denomination coins was altered. Coins in circulation are: Commemorative coins are issued in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge. Silver and gold bullion coins exist in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 tenge. Many of the 20 and 50 tenge commemoratives are struck in cupro-nickel and make it out into general circulation as a side coinage with face value. On 15 November 1993, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyn, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 tenge; these were followed in 1994 by 200, 500, 1,000 tenge notes. 2,000 tenge notes were introduced in 1996, with 5,000 tenge in 1999 and 10,000 tenge on 28 July 2003. Notes in circulation are: 200 tenge portrait of Al-Farabi 500 tenge portrait of Al-Farabi, fragment of Khodzha Akhmet Yassaui mausoleum 1,000 tenge portrait of Al-Farabi 2,000 tenge portrait of Al-Farabi 5,000 tenge portrait of
Artsakh (alongside Armenian dram)
