National currency of Armenia: history and appearance

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The national currency of Armenia is called dram. This term comes from the ancient Greek word "drachma", which translates as "money". Such Armenian banknotes were put into circulation in November 1993. Along with this, the first mention of dramas dates back to the twelfth century, but at that time they were exclusively silver coins.

Denominations

The design of the 1993 banknotes was originally owned by the British company Thomas de la Rue. Two years later they were updated and designed by Giesecke & Devrient from Germany. One dram is made up of one hundred lumas. As of today, banknotes of one, five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred thousand drams, as well as coins of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 drams are in circulation in the country.

History of the Armenian currency

Speaking about the currency in Armenia, one cannot fail to note the fact that paper money first appeared here during the Republic in 1918. These were rubles that were in use throughoutonly two years. In 1920, the country became part of the USSR, so the Soviet currency was introduced into circulation. After the independence of the state was declared on September 23, 1991, it was used here for another two years, until the creation of the Central Bank. Only after that, as noted above, did the national currency of Armenia appear. Initially, money was printed, the denomination of which was 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 drams. The exchange for residents of the state was carried out based on the rate of 200 rubles per dram.

In 1996, strong inflation began in Armenia, in connection with which the national money was constantly depreciating. As a result, the government decided several times to issue banknotes with a higher denomination.

Appearance

The images of prominent figures of the country, as well as its historical heritage, are applied to the Armenian dram. It should be noted that the palette is quite colorful. For example, if you take a banknote, the face value of which is one thousand drams, then on it you can see a portrait of the famous local writer Yeghishe Charents. To his right, Ararat flaunts in the background. On the back of the banknote, in the background, there is an image of an old Yerevan building, and on the front, a horse harnessed to a wagon.

No less beautiful is the banknote of fifty thousand drams. On the front side, the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin is depicted here, and to the left of it is an inscription that says that Christianity has been the national religion of the country for 1700 years. On the back you cansee images of its distributor St. Gregory and King Tiridates the Great against the backdrop of Ararat. Here, on the right, the ornament of the Kecharis church is drawn. The protection of the banknote is a watermark made in the form of a cross.

Currency exchange

Practically in all trade institutions of the country only the national currency of Armenia is accepted for calculation. The only exceptions are large hotels, restaurants and a few shops that accept euros, US dollars or Russian rubles. Money exchange can be carried out in specialized points or in banks. It should be noted that it is better to do this in big cities, since it is often difficult to find an exchanger outside them. The situation is similar with bank cards. Quite rare even in the capital of the state Yerevan are ATMs. Banking institutions in Armenia, as a rule, work only until 16:00. In this regard, when going to this country, it is better to take care of the exchange of money in advance.

As for the exchange rate, currently the currency of Armenia correlates with foreign money as follows: 1 Russian ruble - 11, 9 Armenian drams, 1 euro - 567 Armenian drams, 1 US dollar - 414 Armenian drams.