THE NATIONAL CURRENCY OF KYRGYZSTAN — THE SOM

The Kyrgyz national currency, the Som was introduced in 1993. The word «som» in Russian is the name of a fish — but the word in Kyrgyz means «an unprocessed metal piece» and was used to denote a form of currency from before Russian expansion into the region, (as was the sum — the name given to its currency by Uzbekistan). The Soviet rouble banknotes used to have their nominal values printed on them in 16 languages — including the Kyrgyz — «som».

Because it was unexpected, the introduction of the new currency plunged Kyrgyzstan into a crisis with its neighbours, (especially Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), still in the «rouble zone». Shortly after, however, the other countries of Central Asia also introduced their own currencies.

In May 1995 the som became fully convertible and can be freely exchanged for the currency of other countries. The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan sets exchange rates against major currencies every day. When it was introduced, the exchange rate was set at 4 som to the US dollar. At the end of 1999 it was almost 46 to the US dollar and in 2001 about 48 to the US dollar.

Originally all the som notes were the same size (about 13.5cm x 6.5 cm), and had the same design. On the front was a picture of the statue of Manas on his horse outside the Philharmonia in Bishkek, and on the back was a picture of the Manas Mausoleum in Talas. The colour and the numbers differentiated them. At first there were three notes, 1, 5 and 20 som.

Because the 1 som and the 20 som notes were similar in colour, there was sometimes confusion, and so a new, smaller, 1 som note was introduced. Newly designed notes are sometimes introduced incorporating security features to prevent forgeries. It still possible to find several different versions of the 1, 5 and 10 som notes in circulation.

On one side of the notes is a portrait of a famous Kyrgyz person, and on the other some images relating to the person — a place. There are also traditional Kyrgyz patterns built into the design. There are nine denominations of som banknotes: 1 — brown; 5 — blue; 10 — green; 20 — brown and yellow; 50 — pink; 100 — brown/green/black, and the larger notes introduced in 2000 : 200 — ochre, 500 — pink and 1000 — grey.

The som is divided into 100 tyiyn. You may think of tyiyn as «small change» — actually, the Kyrgyz used to call any small change (even that of other countries) tyiyn and the name is used in Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan as well. The tyiyn banknotes are smaller (about 9cm x 7.5cm) and like the original som banknotes share the same design, being differentiated by colour and numbers denoting their value. On one side of the note is an eagle in flight and on the other is the image taken from the flag (of a tyunduk within a sunburst of 40 flames) within a traditional Kyrgyz pattern representing rams horns and flowers There are three denominations … 50 tyiyn — blue; 10 tyiyn — green and 1 tyiyn — pink.

There are no coins in circulation. However, in 1995 some 2000 special Gold (nominal value — 100 som) and 5000 Silver (nominal value — 10 som) coins were commissioned and minted by Pobjoy Mint in London (using local minerals) to commemorate the 1000 years of the Manas epic. Sometimes, it is still possible to find special presentation packs in some of the shops. In 2000 some special coins were issued to commemorate the 3000 years of settlement on the site of the city of Osh. In 2001 — a new coin was minted to mark the tenth anniversary of Kyrgyz Independence.

In August 2000 new banknotes were issued with a value of 200, 500 and 1000 som. These are bigger than the older notes and contain several security measures to prevent forgery.

In 2001 — a new coin was minted to mark the tenth anniversary of Kyrgyz Independence.