This article provides a historical summary of the currencies and monetary units of the country of Armenia throughout its history, in addition to the Armenian regions of the Russian Empire and Transcaucasian SSR and the majority-Armenian but internationally unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.
Past and present currencies used in Armenia include:
The first instance of a "dram" currency was in the period from 1199 to 1375, when silver coins called dram or tram were issued. [1] Dram or Takvorin coinage would periodically continue to be produced until the modern era. A series of attempts to localize the Russian ruble under the Soviet Union and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) followed. [2] On 21 September 1991, a national referendum proclaimed Armenia as a republic independent 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 ruble zone. However it soon became clear that maintaining a currency union in the unstable political and economical circumstances of the post-Soviet states would be very difficult. The Ruble Zone effectively collapsed with the unilateral 1993 Russian monetary reform process. As a result, the remaining CIS participants – 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. [3]
The tenge is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tiyn.
The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural litai or litų was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų. The litas was first introduced on 2 October 1922 after World War I, when Lithuania declared independence, and was reintroduced on 25 June 1993 following a period of currency exchange from the Soviet ruble to the litas with the temporary talonas then in place. The name was modeled after the name of the country. From 1994 to 2002, the litas was pegged to the U.S. dollar at the rate of 4 to 1. The litas was pegged to the euro at the rate of 3.4528 to 1 since 2002. The euro was expected to replace the litas by 1 January 2007, but persistent high inflation and the economic crisis delayed the switch.
The Armenian dram is the currency of the Republic of Armenia. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma. The Central Bank of Armenia is responsible for issuance and circulation of dram banknotes and coins, as well as implementing the monetary policy of Armenia.
The manat is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 gapiks.
The Transnistrian ruble is the currency of the internationally unrecognized state of Transnistria and is divided into 100 kopecks.
The som is the currency of Kyrgyzstan.
The sum is the official currency of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan replaced the ruble with the sum at par in on July 16, 1994. No subdivisions of this sum were issued and only banknotes were produced, in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 sum. Because it was meant to be a transitional currency, the design was rather simplistic.
The ruble, rouble or rubel is the currency of Belarus. It is subdivided into 100 kopecks.
The ruble or rouble was the currency of the Soviet Union. It was introduced in 1922 and replaced the Imperial Russian ruble. One ruble was divided into 100 kopecks. Soviet banknotes and coins were produced by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise in Moscow and Leningrad.
The ruble or rouble is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the name of the currency of the Russian Empire and, later, of the Soviet Union.
The ruble was the currency of Tajikistan between 10 May 1995 and 29 October 2000. It was ostensibly subdivided into 100 tanga, although no coins or banknotes were issued denominated in tanga. The currency was only issued as paper money, with denominations to up to 10,000 rubles.
The ruble was the independent currency of the First Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1919 and 1923. It replaced the first Transcaucasian ruble at par and was replaced by the second Transcaucasian ruble after Armenia became part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. No subdivisions of the ruble were issued and the currency existed only as banknotes.
The Central Bank of Armenia is the central bank of Armenia with its headquarters in Yerevan. The CBA is an independent institution responsible for issuing all banknotes and coins in the country, overseeing and regulating the banking sector and keeping the government's currency reserves. The CBA is also the sole owner of the Armenian Mint.
Chervonets is the traditional Russian name for large foreign and domestic gold coins. The name comes from the Russian term червонное золото, meaning 'red gold' – the old name of a high-grade gold type.
The ruble, manat or maneti was the currency of both Transcaucasian states, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic.
The Artsakh dram was a monetary unit of the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh, which was dissolved on 1 January 2024 in the aftermath of Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite being legal tender, it was not as widely used as the Armenian dram.
Russia's monetary reform of 1993 took place from 26 July to 7 August 1993.
The Central Bank Visitor Centre is a Centre and an interactive museum in Yerevan, Armenia dedicated to the activities of the Central Bank of Armenia, the monetary policy of Armenia, and the history of money. The museum was opened on 20 September 2011. It is located in the historic building of the Central Bank and occupies 2 floors.
The ruble, or manat, was the currency of several state entities on the territory of Azerbaijan in 1918-1923.
