The National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new 1,000-tenge note on 5 January 2010 to commemorate Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010.

A total of 10 million notes will be issued at face value (US$6.75). The note dated 2010 is the same size (134 x 70 mm) as the current note of the same denomination, though the color is now turquoise-green, and the designs are as follows:

Obverse: State Emblem of the Republic of Kazakhstan in left upper corner, decorative image of flying birds in national style, face value in Kazakh language in the center, motives of Kazakh national patterns along the banknote, holographic image of Baiterek monument , color-changing logo of National Bank of Kazakhstan on the right part

Reverse: State Flag of the Republic in the left lower corner, Akorda palace of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the center with face value in Russian language, image of a bird and year of issue 2010, numerical indication of face value in the left lower part, motives of Kazakh national patterns along the banknote.

Courtesy of Vadim Tislenko.

Tags: Kazakhstan

On 31 October 2006, the Bank of Russia announced that it intends to replace all 10-ruble (Pick 273, US$0.37) bank notes with coins. “Coins serve longer than bank notes,” explained deputy chairman Georgy Luntovsky. Coins can circulate for 10 to 15 years, while 10- and 50-ruble notes have a lifetime of approximately half a year.

On 22 October 2009, the bank announced that it would stop issuing 10-ruble (US$0.35) banknotes in 2010 because they wear out quickly and are too expensive to produce. The notes will be replaced by a coin.

Courtesy of Mikhail Istomin.

Tags: Russia

On 18 August 2009, the Trans-Dniester Republican Bank introduced a 10-ruble banknote commemorating 15 years of national currency. 1,000 copies of the note were packaged in a special folder. All have sold out at US$50 each.

The note is a completely new design, featuring the date (2009) and a portrait of Alexander Suvorov and the bank initials on front. The watermark is of Alexander Suvorov with an electrotype ПРБ. The back depicts the headquarters building of the Trans-Dniester Republican Bank and the text (in Russian) “FIFTEEN YEARS OF NATIONAL CURRENCY.”




Courtesy of Vadim Tislenko and Chris Kessler (Trans-Dniester Republican Bank).

Tags: Transdniestria

On 24 August 2009, the Central Bank of Armenia introduced a new 100,000-dram (US$264) note, now the largest denomination in this Eurasian nation.


Front: Royal flag depicting Jesus Christ; King Abgar V of Edessa; 1st-century regional map; crown; ancient coin. Back: Castles; disciple Thaddeus handing canvas of royal flag to King Abgar V; river. Kinegram foil stripe. Solid security thread and Cleartext windowed security thread with demetalized AMD 100000. Watermark: King Abgar V; electrotype 10000 and cross of king’s crown. Printer: (TDLR).

Anyone interested in buying this note can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com.

Courtesy of Thomas Augustsson and Armen Hovsepian.

Tags: Armenia

100 lari (US$60). Like Pick 74, but new date (2008) and new signatures.

Courtesy of Peter Kelly.

Tags: Georgia

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic has already introduced new 20-, 50-, 100-, and 5,000-som banknotes in 2009, all of which were produced by the French security printer, Oberthur Technologies, without imprint. I have recently received word from a well-placed source that 200-, 500-, and 1,000-som notes printed by De La Rue are scheduled for introduction in 2010. These denominations will complete the fourth issues from the Kyrgyz Republic’s central bank.

Tags: Kyrgyzstan

New 20-, 50-, and 100-som banknotes were introduced by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic on 1 July 2009.

According to the assistant president of the Kyrgyz National Bank, Zair Chokoev, “We retained the style of our banknotes but tried to make them more convenient. Notes of the third series were too large and inconvenient to use. And we decided to reduce their size,” Zair Chokoev said. The new fourth series will slowly replace the notes of the third series.


20 som (US$0.45)
Red. Front: Togolok Moldo. Back: Tash-Rabat. 120 x 58 mm.



50 som (US$1.15)
Orange. Front: Kurmanjan Datka. Back: Uzgen architectural complex. 126 x 61 mm.



100 som (US$2.30)
Blue. Front: Toktogul Satylganov. Back: Toktogul hydroelectric power station. 132 x 63 mm.

Courtesy of Vadim Tislenko.

Tags: Kyrgyzstan

On 1 January 2009, the Central Bank of Turkmenistan issued a new series of notes. Reports vary, however, as to whether the 500-manat note was issued at that time. If anyone can send 300-dpi scans of the front and back of the issued note, I would appreciate it very much.


500 manat
Blue. Front: Holographic patch; map; coat of arms; President Saparmurat Niyazov. Back: Kipchak mosque in Ashgabat; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 500 MANAT. Watermark: President Saparmurat Niyazov., flag, and electrotype 500. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 156 x 78 mm. 2009. Signature 4.

Tags: Turkmenistan

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic introduced a 5,000-som note (US$122) on 2 March 2009. The front of the note features a portrait of actor, writer, and sportsman Suimenkul Chokmorov. On the back is Ala-Too, one of the oldest cinemas of the capital city of Bishkek. Previously the largest denomination was the 1,000-som note issued in 2000.



Courtesy of Cleophas Elmakias Schockemohle and Peter Kelly.

Tags: Kyrgyzstan

According to a Mosnews.com article dated May 22, 2009, “elderly residents of the city of Archangelsk, North Russia, have asked the Minister of Finance, Alexei Kudrin, to change the image on the 500-ruble banknote (Pick 271, shown below), which they claim is a picture of a Soviet death camp. The note carries an image of the Solovetsky Monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site. However, in the Soviet era between 1926 and 1938 the crosses were removed from the buildings and the site was used as a special prison and a gulag prototype.”

“We all understand that they just wanted to depict one of the most beautiful sights of our city, the famous Solovetsky Monastery, but they have accidentally depicted the Solovetsky death camp,” 72-year-old Arkhangelsk resident Vasily Fedotov said.





“If you look at the [back of the] banknote closely you will notice that the holy crosses, which usually top Orthodox churches, are only seen on one golden dome in the picture. This means that the artist has painted the death camp. Our banknote is the only note in the world with a picture of a World War II concentration camp. Our feelings are hurt. We feel pain for veterans and for the people who died in these damned death camps. I hope that Alexei Kudrin will hear our prayers and change the picture,” he added.

Tags: Russia

According to a Trend Capital report dated 18 February 2009, “The Azerbaijani current banknotes in circulation and money reserves created on basis of banknotes will not be changed or replaced in connection with renaming the National Bank of Azerbaijan into the Central Bank according to the constitutional amendments, the NBA said. ‘Depending on results of referendum, changes can be made to banknotes in circulation and new face-values in case of request. Banknotes in circulation will be legal way of payment until their circulation term ends,’ the bank said.”

Tags: Azerbaijan

On January 1, 2009, the Central Bank of Turkmenistan issued a new series of notes printed by Thomas De La Rue, which has printed Turkmenistan currency since independence in 1991. The new notes bear images of prominent figures of the Turkmen nation and architectural compositions of Ashgabat. The government revalued its currency in conjunction with the introduction of the new notes. Prior to the revaluation, the official exchange rate was 5,000 manats to the US dollar, with the black market rate almost five times that. The new manat is equal to 50 of the “old” manat.



1 manat
Green. Front: Map; coat of arms; Togrul Beg Türkmen. Back: Beyik Saparmyrat Türkmenbasynyň Milli Medeniyet Merkezi (National Cultural Centre of Turkmenistan) buildings; five stars and crescent moon. Solid security thread. Watermark: Togrul Beg Türkmen, flag, and electrotype 1. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 120 x 60 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.



5 manat
Tan. Front: Map; coat of arms; Soltan Sansar Türkmen. Back: Buildings; Garassyzlyk Binasy and Bitaraplyk Binasy (Independence Monument and Neutrality Arch in Ashgabat); five stars and crescent moon. Solid security thread. Watermark: Soltan Sansar Türkmen, flag, and electrotype 5. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 126 x 63 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.



10 manat
Red. Front: Map; coat of arms; Magtymguly Pyragy. Back: Türkmenistanyň Merkezi Banky (Turkmenistan central bank) headquarters building; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 10 MANAT. Watermark: Magtymguly Pyragy, flag, and electrotype 10. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 132 x 66 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.



20 manat
Purple. Front: Map; coat of arms; Görogly Beg Türkmen. Back: Ruhyyet Köşgi (Ruhyyet Palace) building; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 20 MANAT. Watermark: Görogly Beg Türkmen, flag, and electrotype 20. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 138 x 69 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.



50 manat
Green. Front: Holographic patch; map; coat of arms; Gorkut Ata Türkmen. Back: Türkmenistanyň Mejlisi (Turkmenistan National Assembly in Ashkhabat) building; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 50 MANAT. Watermark: Gorkut Ata Türkmen, flag, and electrotype 50. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 144 x 72 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.



100 manat
Blue. Front: Holographic patch; map; coat of arms; Oguz Han Türkmen. Back: Prezident Köşgi (Palace of Turkmenbashi in Ashgabat) building; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 100 MANAT. Watermark: Oguz Han Türkmen, flag, and electrotype 100. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 150 x 75 mm. 2009. Signature 4. Introduced 01.01.2009.


500 manat
Blue. Front: Holographic patch; map; coat of arms; President Saparmurat Niyazov. Back: Kipchak mosque in Ashgabat; five stars and crescent moon. Windowed security thread with demetalized 500 MANAT. Watermark: President Saparmurat Niyazov., flag, and electrotype 500. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 156 x 78 mm. 2009. Signature 4.

Additional information and images requested of 500-manat note.

Courtesy of Dmitriy Litvak.

Tags: Turkmenistan

The name of Turkey’s currency has reverted from “new Turkish lira” (TRY) to “Turkish lira” (TRL) as of 1 January 2009, necessitating the issuance of new banknotes and coins. Turkey last changed the currency by removing six zeroes on 1 January 2005, at a cost of US$300 million. This new move is expected to incur similar costs. Durmuş Yılmaz, governor of the Turkish Central Bank, indicated that a new denomination, the TRL200, would begin circulation as well. The new notes have different sizes as a measure against forgery and to facilitate their use by blind people. The depiction of the country’s founder, Kemal Atatürk, stays on the front of all banknotes; the new designs were unveiled 3 October 2008.

All of the notes have dots in the upper left to assist the visually impaired, microtext, a solid security thread, a holographic stripe, registration device, Omron rings, a latent image, Atatürk as watermark with electrotype denomination, and an iridescent stripe on back. The notes are printed by the Central Bank Banknote Printing House in Ankara.

While each banknote has a portrait of Ataturk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey, on one side, there are portraits of other prominent Turks on the other sides of the banknotes as listed below:

5 TL banknote: Prof. Dr. Aydin Sayili
10 TL banknote: Prof. Dr. Cahit Arf
20 TL banknote: Architect Kemaleddin
50 TL banknote: Ms. Fatma Aliye
100 TL banknote: Itri
200 TL banknote: Yunus Emre

Aydin Sayili (1913-1993) was a historian of science who studied under George Sarton at Harvard. His career was aided by chance meeting with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whom he impressed enough to receive a state-supported scholarship to attend graduate school at Harvard.

Cahit Arf (1910-1997) was a Turkish mathematician. He is known for the Arf invariant of a quadratic form in characteristic 2 (applied in knot theory and surgery theory) in topology, the Hasse-Arf theorem in ramification theory, and Arf rings.

Architect Kemaleddin (1870-1927) was a prominent Turkish architect. He is a graudate of civil engineering and studied extensively in Germany. He repaired many mosques. He was chosen as a member to the British Royal Architects Institute. He constructed the Bostanci, Bebek, Yesilkoy and Kutlutepe mosques.

Ms. Fatma Aliye (1862-1939) was the first female novelist in Turkish literature and Islamic geography. She was the daughter of last grand Ottoman histrorian Ahmad Cavdat Pasha.

Itri (1630 or 1640-1712) is a well known and important Turkish composer.

Yunus Emre (1238?-1320?) was a Turkish poet and Sufi mystic. He has exercised immense influence on Turkish literature, from his own day until the present.








Anyone interested in buying this note can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com.

Courtesy of Ömer Yalcinkaya.

Tags: Turkey

On October 11, 2007, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov approved samples for new banknotes to be issued in 2009. These designs were recently unveiled by Turkmenistan’s central bank.









The designs were prepared by De La Rue, which has printed Turkmenistan currency since independence in 1991. According to Turkmenistan.ru, the “new banknotes will bear the images of prominent figures of the Turkmen nation and architectural compositions of Ashgabat. 1 manat banknotes will bear the image of Togrul Bek Turkmen, 5 manat banknotes - Soltan Sanjar Turkmen, 10 manat banknotes - Makhtumkuli Fragi, 20 manat banknotes - Gerogly Bek Turkmen, 50 manak banknotes - Gorgut Ata Turkmen, 100 manat banknotes - Oguz Khan Turkmen. The image of Turkmenistan’s first president Saparmurat Niyazov will be drawn on 500 manat banknotes.”

The government intends to revalue its currency in conjunction with the introduction of the new note family. Currently the official exchange rate is 5,000 manats to the US dollar, but the black market rate is almost five times that.

Special thanks to Cleophas Elmakias Schockemohle for bringing this to my attention.

© 2008: Neither information nor images from this site may be reproduced without permission from owen [AT] banknotenews [DOT] com.

Tags: Turkmenistan

5,000 tenge (US$41.30), 2008. Introduced 2008 to commemorate 15 years of tenge. Red and brown on m/c underprint. Front: Astana-Baiterek monument; sheet music; national emblem; palm; flag; green-to-blue Spark flying eagle; jubilee inscription at edges. Back: Independence Monument and Kazakhstan hotel in Almaty; mountains. Watermark, windowed security thread, registration device, intaglio printing, OVI, microprinting, fluorescent serial numbers, iridescent ink, latent image of denomination, and pink fibers that fluoresce red under UV light. Printer: De La Rue (w/o imprint). 144 x 76 mm.

Also available as a specimen with all-zero serial numbers, red diagonal SPECIMEN overprint, numbered in the lower right-hand front corner.

Tags: Kazakhstan

The New Turkish Lira (TRY) introduced 1 January 2005 as the 8th emission group, will be replaced by a new currency, the Turkish lira (TL) on 1 January 2009. Existing notes will continue to circulate for a year before being withdrawn, and will remain redeemable for a decade afterwards. The new 9th emission group notes will feature new sizes, colors, designs, and security features. Because the usage of the TRY1 note (shown above) has been very limited, this denomination will be replaced by a coin, and the new series will feature a TL200 banknote, twice the value of the current highest denomination note.

According to a February 27, 2008 article in Today’s Zaman, important figures of Turkish culture, such as poets, writers, mathematicians, intellectuals, musicians, and artists, will adorn the new banknotes. The central bank will make its final decisions on design issues this coming autumn. “We will see the faces of prominent Turkish historical figures on the new banknotes. But these [banknotes] will not just include those from the 14th or 15th centuries, but also some figures from contemporary history,” a senior official from the central bank noted.

Tags: Turkey

1 lari (US$0.60), 2007. Like P68, but new date and new signatures.

10 lari (US$6.25), 2007. Like P71, but new date and new signatures.

Images courtesy of Thomas Augustsson.

Tags: Georgia

200 lari (US$118.75), 2006. Issued April 15, 2007. National military hero Kakutsa Cholokashvili as portrait. Breakaway capital Sokhumi and Sokhumi, Abkhaz in Abkhaz, English, and Georgian on back. Printer: Giesecke & Devrient, Germany. Designers: Bachana and Nodar Malazonia.

Special thanks to Cleophas Elmakias Schockemohle for bringing this to my attention. Images courtesy of Olexandr Danishenko: www.banknotes-and-coins.com.

Tags: Georgia

There are two different 100-tenge notes dated 1993. The original (Pick 13a, top left) was issued in 1993. It features an intaglio rosette in the upper left corner of the front of the note. There is a second variety also dated 1993 (top right), but issued in 2001. It has the rosette in OVI.

There are two different 200-tenge notes dated 1999. The original (Pick 20, middle left) was issued in 2000. It features the denomination embossed on a rosette in the lower right corner of the front of the note. There is a second variety (middle right) also dated 1999, but issued in 2002. It has a latent image instead of embossing, and a different background design to the right of the portrait.

There are two different 500-tenge notes dated 1999. The original (Pick 21, bottom left) was issued in 2000. It features the denomination embossed on a rosette in the lower right corner of the front of the note. There is a second variety (bottom right) also dated 1999, but issued in 2002. It has a latent image instead of embossing, and a different background design to the right of the portrait. This note is listed as Pick 27, erroneously indicated as a 2004 issue.

If anyone has additional information about these or other unlisted varieties for other denominations, please add your comment below.

Courtesy of Eduard Han.

Tags: Kazakhstan

Today the National Bank of Kazakhstan began issuing a new series of notes. This completely redesigned series share similar design elements on front (vertical format) and back (horizontal), distinguished primarily by different color schemes and printed denominations. The previous series (Pick 20 - 27) featuring a portrait of Al-Farabi will circulate in parallel with the new series for a period of one year.

The front of each note features the Astan-Baiterek monument in center, with a fragment of printed music of the national anthem overprinted with the numerical denomination. National emblem at left, along with an opened palm, and flag at right. The back of each note features a different main image within the outline of Kazakhstan’s boundaries.

The following security features appear on all notes: watermark, metallic windowed security thread, registration device, intaglio printing, OVI, microprinting, fluorescent serial numbers, iridescent ink, latent image of denomination, and pink fibers that fluoresce red under UV light.





200 tenge, 2006. Orange and green on m/c unpt. Transport and Communication Ministry building and a winged statue on the bridge over the river Ishim in the capital Astana in foreground, the Ministry of Defense building and steppe in background on back. 126 x 64 mm.





500 tenge, 2006. Blue and gray on m/c unpt. Ministry of Finance building and Astana city hall in foreground, gulls over the sea in background on back. 130 x 67 mm.





1,000 tenge, 2006. Yellow and brown on m/c unpt. Presidential Culture Center in foreground, mesas in background on back. 134 x 70 mm.





2,000 tenge, 2006. Green and blue on m/c unpt. Abai Opera-House in Almaty in foreground, mountain lake in background on back. 139 x 73 mm.






5,000 tenge, 2006. Red and brown on m/c unpt. Independence Monument and Kazakhstan hotel in Almaty in foreground, mountains in background on back. 144 x 76 mm.





10,000 tenge, 2006. Violet and blue on m/c unpt. Presidential Residence in Akorda in foreground, canyons in background on back. 149 x 79 mm.

All notes have the same watermark of a leopard head, along with electrotype denomination and different animals (such as the camel shown here).



Courtesy of Olexandr Danishenko and Eduard Han.

Tags: Kazakhstan

Officials at the National Bank of Kazakhstan admit that there’s a problem with the new series of notes issued on November 15. The word “bank” on some of the new notes is misspelled with an alternate Kazakh form of the letter K (above, top), not the Cyrillic version (above, bottom), which has a slightly different pronunciation. Despite politicians’ calls to scrap the new issue, bank officials plan to release the error notes and then gradually withdraw them from circulation.

This error affects only some 2,000- and 5,000-tenge notes, and not the other denominations in this new series. Curiously, the misspelled “bank” appears on both sides of the KZT2,000 (US$15.65), but only on the face of the KZT5,000 (US$39.10).
 
More info can be found in this New Zealand Radio article.

Courtesy of Olexandr Danishenko and Eduard Han.

Tags: Kazakhstan

According to a 21 September 2006 Azeri-Press Information Agency report, the National Bank of Azerbaijan’s cash department deputy director Hajibala Masimov claims that 90 percent of the notes now in circulation are of the new manat series (Pick 24-29), introduced from January through May. The old style notes will continue to circulate until January 1, 2007, after which time they must be exchanged for new notes at banks. Masimov also said that there are no plans to issue a denomination larger than the current 100-manat note (Pick 29).
 
Images courtesy of Rastsislau Permiakou.

Tags: Azerbaijan

5,000 rubles, 1997. Issued July 31, 2006. Red and brown. Statesman Nikolay Nikolayevich Muravyov-Amursky’s Monument in Khabarovsk at center with commercial ship in background; his bust as wmk. Automobile bridge across Amur River (the border between Russia and China negotiated by Muravyov) on back. Denomination appears in microperforations. Windowed security thread. Khabarovsk coat of arms in crimson to golden green OVI. Microprinting: “CBRF,” silhouettes of tigers, bears, fish, and trees. 157 x 69 mm.
 
Courtesy of Mikhail Istomin.

Tags: Russia