Armenia Banknotes

Our Banknote catalog of Armenia.

The dram (Armenian: Դրամ; sign: ; code: AMD) is the monetary unit of Armenia. It is subdivided into 100 luma (Armenian: լումա). The word "dram" translates into English as "money" and is cognate with the Greek drachma and the Arabic dirham. The first instance of a dram currency was in the period from 1199 to 1375, when silver coins called dram were issued.

History

On 21 September 1991 a national referendum proclaimed Armenia as an independent republic from the Soviet Union. The Central Bank of Armenia, established on 27 March 1993, was given the exclusive right of issuing the national currency.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union attempts were made to maintain a common currency (the Russian ruble) among CIS states. Armenia joined this rublezone. However it soon became clear that maintaining a common currency in the unstable political and economical circumstances of the post-Soviet states would be very difficult. The rublezone effectively collapsed in July 1993 when Russia unilaterally started a currency reform. As result the states that were still participating (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Armenia and Georgia) were 'pushed out' and forced to introduce separate currencies. Armenia was one of the last countries to do so when it introduced the dram on 22 November 1993.

A first series of banknotes was issued in November 1993. It was withdrawn from circulation by 2005. A second series was issued from 1998 onwards which is still in use at present.

First series (1993-1995)

On 22 November 1993, banknotes of 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dram were issued. Notes for 1000 and 5000 dram were put into circulation later.

Second series (1998-present)

The banknotes of 500 dram are rarely seen in circulation. The 500 dram coin is used instead.
A commemorative 50,000 dram note was issued on 4 June 2001 to observe the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia.

Fuente: Wikipedia