August 15 marks the day when the manat, the national currency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was put into circulation.
Sea-news.az reports that the first emission of the national currency, put into circulation on August 15, 1992, was printed by the Central Bank of France. At that time, 1, 10, and 250 manat banknotes were introduced first, followed by other denominations.
Stages of development and key historical facts of the national currency:
- Sole legal tender (1993): Operating in parallel with the ruble from 1992 to 1994, the manat was declared the sole means of payment across the country by a Decree signed by National Leader Heydar Aliyev on December 11, 1993, officially removing the country from the ruble zone.
- Historical denominations: To meet cash demand, a 10,000-manat banknote depicting the Shirvanshahs’ Palace was printed in Germany in 1994, a 50,000-manat banknote featuring the Momine Khatun mausoleum was printed in the UK in 1996, and a 1,000-manat banknote dedicated to the theme of oil was issued in 2001.
- Denomination and the new manat (2006): As part of the denomination implemented on January 1, 2006, 1 new manat (AZN) was set equal to 5,000 old manats (AZM). The design of the new generation banknotes was created by Robert Kalina, a designer from Austria’s “OeBS” company who also designed the euro.
Recent innovations and modern banknotes:
- 200-manat banknote (2018): A 200-manat banknote featuring the Heydar Aliyev Center as its main design element was put into circulation.
- “Karabakh”-themed 20-manat banknote (2022): Issued on the 30th anniversary of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), the banknote features symbols of Victory (sword, helmet, shield) and the Kharibulbul emblem.
- Renewal of coins: The State Emblem and the year of minting were added to the designs of 1, 10, 20, and 50 gepik coins.
- Gold investment coins (2023): High-purity gold investment and commemorative coins, prepared at the UK’s Royal Mint in honor of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, were put into circulation.
- Renewed 100-manat banknote: A 100-manat banknote featuring the signature of CBA Chairman Taleh Kazımov and equipped with the latest security systems (a three-dimensional micro-mirror effect hologram, the “Spark Flow Prime” dynamic element, a vertical back design, and raised lines for the visually impaired) was introduced into circulation by the CBA.
