National Currency Day: Facts about the tenge
On 15 November, Kazakhstan celebrates National Currency Day — marking the date in 1993 when the tenge officially entered circulation, becoming a symbol of the country’s economic sovereignty, Kazinform News Agency reports.
1. The first banknotes were printed in London by the British security printing company Harrison & Sons.
2. The first coins were minted in Germany.
3. The exchange from Russian rubles to tenge began on 15 November 1993 and lasted exactly five days. The rate was 1 tenge = 500 Russian rubles.
4. Kazakhstan issued its first silver commemorative coins in 1995, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Abai Kunanbayev’s birth.
5. 15 November is also celebrated in Kazakhstan as Financier’s Day.
6. In 2019, the National Bank released a commemorative coin weighing 1 kilogram with a denomination of 50,000 tenge.
7. In 2006, the National Bank held a competition to design the tenge symbol. From tens of thousands of submissions, the winning entry received a prize of 1 million tenge. Later, observers pointed out that the chosen symbol closely resembled the logo of the Japanese postal service.
8. Kazakhstan’s only triangular coin is the “Tumar” silver coin, part of the “Magical Symbols” series, with a face value of 100 tenge.
9. Kazakhstan’s tenge is among the most secure banknotes in the world. For example, the “Saka Style” series uses a cutting-edge micro-optical two-color security thread that creates a pulsating effect when tilted.
Earlier, it was reported that Kazakhstan is moving to integrate the digital tenge into its public finance system. The currency is set to be used in national and local budgets, as well as in the budgets of state-owned holding companies.