Armenian dram

Armenian dram sign

The dram Sign

In 1995 the currency sign for the Armenian dram was designed.The Armenian dram sign (֏, image: ; Armenian: Դրամ; code: AMD) is the currency sign of the Armenian dram. In Unicode, it is encoded at U+058F ֏ ARMENIAN DRAM SIGN (HTML ֏).

After its proclamation of independence, Armenia put into circulation its own national currency – Armenian Dram, the usage of which revealed the necessity for a monetary sign. As the result of common business practice and the unique pattern of Armenian letters the shape of the sign and its variations appeared in the business scratches (daybooks). Since that time and until the official endorsement of the sign a number of artists and businessmen developed and offered various shapes for it. Now the Sign (Dram symbol) is present in the Armenian standard for the national characters and symbols and in the Armenian computer fonts.

First series (1994-2002)

In 1994, a first series of aluminium coins was introduced in denominations of 10-, 20- and 50 luma, 1-, 3-, 5 and 10 dram. At present only the 10 dram coin is still in use. The other coins are officially in circulation but not really used because of their low nominal value.^[4][5]

First series (1994)
Image	Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of
		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue	withdrawal	lapse
	10 luma[6]	16.0 mm	0.59 g	aluminium alloy	Plain	Value, year of minting	Armenian coat of arms	1994	February 21, 1994	Current, but not used in practice	-
	20 luma[7]	18.0 mm	0.75 g		Plain
	50 luma[8]	20.0 mm	0.93 g		Plain
	1[9]	22.0 mm	1.39 g		Reeded
	3[10]	24.0 mm	1.63 g		Reeded
	5[11]	26.0 mm	1.98 g		Plain
	10[12]	28.0 mm	2.30 g		Plain					Current

• All coins bear the year of the first issue (1994).

Second series (2003-present)

In 2003 and 2004, a new series of coins was introduced in denominations of 10-, 20-, 50-, 100-, 200 and 500 dram.

Second series (2003-2004)
Image	Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of
		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue	withdrawal	lapse
	10[13]	20.0 mm	1.3 g	aluminium alloy	Reeded	Value, ornaments, year of minting	Armenian coat of arms	2004	December 1, 2004	Current	-
	20[14]	20.5 mm	2.75 g	Copper-plated steel	Plain			2003	January 1, 2003
	50[15]	21.5 mm	3.5 g	Brass-plated steel	Reeded				March 31, 2003
	100[16]	22.5 mm	4.0 g	Nickel-plated steel	Reeded
	200[17]	24.0 mm	4.5 g	Alloy of copper, aluminum, nickel	Reeded
	500[18]	22.0 mm	5.0 g	Inner ring: copper-nickel Outer ring: alloy of copper, aluminum, nickel	Segmented (Plain and Reeded sections)

• All coins bear the year of the first issue (2003 or 2004).

First series (1993-1995)

On 22 November 1993, banknotes of 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dram were issued.^[19] Notes for 1,000 and 5,000 dram were put into circulation later.

First series (1993-1995)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	annulment
		10 dram	125 x 62 mm	Brown and purple	Yerevan Train Station and David of Sasun statue	Mount Ararat	1993	November 22, 1993	April 1, 2004
		25 dram		Yellow, brown and blue	Urartian cuneiform tablet and a lion relief from Erebuni fortress	Ornaments
		50 dram		Blue and red	National Gallery and History Museum of Armenia	Armenian parliament building			January 1, 2004
		100 dram		Blue, purple and red	Mount Ararat and Zvartnots Cathedral	Armenian Opera Theater
		200 dram	135 x 62 mm	Brown,green, yellow and red	St. Hripsime Church in Echmiadzin	Ornaments			April 1, 2004
		500 dram		Green, brown and blue	Mount Ararat and a Tigran the Great tetradrachm				September 1, 2005
		1,000 dram	145 x 68 mm	Brown and orange	Mesrop Mashtots statue and Matenadaran	7th century obelisk monument from Ani	1994	October 25, 1994	March 1, 2004
		5,000 dram	145 x 71 mm	Green, yellow and purple	Temple of Garni	Bronze head of goddess Anahit kept in the British Museum	1995	September 6, 1995	July 1, 2005
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimeter. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Second series (1998-2017)

Banknotes of 50-, 100, and 500 dram are rarely seen in circulation. The 50, 100, and 500 dram coins are used instead.
A commemorative 50,000 dram note was issued on 4 June 2001 in commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia. A 500 dram commemorative note was issued on 22 November 2017 to commemorate the story of Noah's Ark.

Second series (1998–2017)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	annulment
		50	122 x 65  mm	Pink, blue and grey	Aram Khachaturian and Armenian Opera Theater	A scene from the ballet Gayane by Khachaturian, and Mount Ararat	1998	??	April 1, 2004
		100		Blue and grey	Viktor Hambardzumyan	Byurakan Observatory
		500	129 x 72 mm	Grey	Alexander Tamanian	Government House in Yerevan designed by Alexander Tamanyan	1999	September 1, 2000	Current
		1,000	136 x 72 mm	Green and pink	Yeghishe Charents	An image of old Yerevan depicting the government building of the First Republic	1999 2001 2011	March 1, 1999
		5,000	143 x 72 mm	Yellow and green	Hovhannes Tumanyan	Nature of Lori from Martiros Saryan's paintings	1999 2003 2009 2012	July 1, 2000
		10,000	150 x 72 mm	Purple	Avetik Isahakyan	An image of old Gyumri	2003 2006 2008 2012	November 1, 2003
		20,000	155 x 72 mm	Yellow, red and brown	Martiros Saryan	Episode from Martiros Saryan's Armenia landscape	1999 2007 2009 2012	March 1, 1999
		50,000	160 x 79 mm	Brown and red	Etchmiadzin Cathedral	St. Gregory the Illuminator and king Tiridates the Great lift up the Armenian Church; on the right - a khachkar from Kecharis Monastery.	2001	June 4, 2001
		100,000	160 x 72 mm	Blue and brown	Abgar V of Edessa	In the centre St. Thaddeus transfers the mandylion to Abgar V of Edessa.[20]	2009	August 24, 2009
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimeter. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Third series (2018-present)

A third series of Armenian dram banknotes will be issued in 2018, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Armenia's national currency.^[21] All denominations for this series are the same as its previous issues, with the 2,000 dram banknote as a newly introduced denomination, the 50,000 dram banknote re-issued for this series and the omission of the 100,000 dram banknote for this issue.

Third series (2018-present)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	annulment
		500	140×76	Brown and grey	Noah's Ark, Etchmiadzin Cathedral on the background of Mount Ararat	Noah, his family members and animals on the background of Mount Ararat	2017
		1,000		Violet	Paruyr Sevak		2018
		2,000		Brown	Tigran Petrosian		2018
		5,000		Red	William Saroyan		2018
		10,000		Purple	Soghomon Soghomonian (Komitas)		2018
		20,000		Blue	Ivan Aivazovsky		2018
		50,000		Gold	Saint Gregory the Illuminator		2018
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimeter. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.