Kazakhstani tenge

The word tenge in the Kazakh and most other Turkic languages means a set of scales (cf the old Uzbek tenga or the Tajik borrowed term tanga). The origin of the word is the Turkic teŋ- which means being equal, balance. The name of this currency is thus similar to the pound, lira, peso, taka, and shekel. The name of the currency is related to the Russian word for money Russian: деньги/ den'gi, which was borrowed from Turkic.

The new symbol for the Kazakhstani tenge.

In autumn 2006, the National Bank of Kazakhstan organised a competition for the symbol of the Kazakhstan Tenge and received over 30,000 applications. On March 20, 2007, two days before the Nauryz holiday, the National Bank of Kazakhstan approved a graphical symbol for the Tenge: ₸. On March 29, 2007, the Bank announced two designers from Almaty, Vadim Davydenko and Sanzhar Amirkhanov, as winners for the creation of the symbol of the Kazakhstan Tenge. They shared a prize of 1,000,000 tenge and the title of "parents" of the Kazakhstan Tenge symbol.[5] The character was proposed for encoding in Unicode in 2008, and was included in Unicode 5.2.0 (August 2009) at code point U+20B8.[6]

In 1993, the first series of coins were introduced in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyin featuring the national arms and were struck in bronze. 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 tenge were struck in cupro-nickel and depicted stylized and mythical animals. The coins of this period circulated alongside tiyin and low denomination tenge notes of equal value.

1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 tenge coins

In 1998, a new series of coins was introduced, which excluded the tiyin having 1 tenge being the smallest denomination. 100 tenge were later introduced in 2002 replacing the equivalent notes. An irregular 2 tenge coin was also introduced later in 2005. In 2013 the alloy of lower denomination coins was altered. Coins currently in circulation are:

In 2019, a new series of coins was introduced into circulation on April 26, with the same coin specifications and metallic compositions as the second series, but with the inscriptions of the coins now rendered in Latin-based Kazakh instead of Kazakh-based Cyrillic. They read as Qazaqstan Respýblıkasy (Republic of Kazakhstan) on the obverse and teńge on the reverse.[8] The coins were issued as part of the efforts of the presidential decree issued by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev of its transition of switching from a Cyrillic-based alphabet to a Latin-based alphabet and emphasizing Kazakh culture and distance the country from Russian influence. The designs of the coins were approved by Interim President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev on March 20, 2019. Previously issued coins bearing the Kazakh Cyrillic script will remain legal tender alongside the new Kazakh Latin inscribed coins. In 2019, the National Bank of Kazakhstan announced the issuance of new 200-teńge coins, which were issued into circulation in 2020. This new denomination features inscriptions in Latin-based Kazakh, and like the 100-teńge coin, is bi-metallic.[9]

Commemorative coins are issued in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge. Silver and gold bullion coins exist in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 tenge. Many of the 20 and 50 tenge commemoratives are also struck in cupro-nickel and occasionally make it out into general circulation as a side coinage with face value.

New symbol of tenge (₸) used on info-board of a currency exchange office in Almaty

On 15 November 1993, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyn, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, and 50 tenge; 100 tenge notes followed shortly thereafter. These were followed in 1994 by 200, 500, and 1,000 tenge notes. 2,000 tenge notes were introduced in 1996, with 5,000 tenge in 1999 and 10,000 tenge on 28 July 2003.[10] Notes currently in circulation are:

• 200 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi
• 500 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi, fragment of Khodzha Akhmet Yassaui mausoleum
• 1,000 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi
• 2,000 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi
• 5,000 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi
• 10,000 tenge - portrait of Al-Farabi, image of snow leopard.

The text on the reverse side of the 200 tenge banknote is written in Kazakh, although text on the reverse sides of the other banknotes is written in Russian.

1993 Series
Image		Value	Main Colour		Description		Date
Obverse	Reverse		Obverse	Reverse	Obverse	Reverse	issue	annul
		1 tiyn	green	green	value in numeral and Kazakh, unique geometric design background	value in numeral and Kazakh, Kazakhstan coat of arms, unique geometric design background	1993	2001
		2 tiyn	light blue	light blue
		5 tiyn	pink	pink
		10 tiyn	red	red
		20 tiyn	blue, grey	blue
		50 tiyn	brown, yellow	brown
		1 tenge	blue	light blue	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Geometrical constructions and formulations of Al-Farabi		2012-2018
		3 tenge	green	bluish green	Portrait of Suinbai Aronuly	Alatau landscape
		5 tenge	brown	yellow, orange	Portrait of Kurmangazy	Kurmangazy mausoleum
		10 tenge	green	light green	Portrait of Chokan Ualihanov	Ok Zhetpes mountain
		20 tenge	brown	light brown	Portrait of Abay Kunanbaev	Illustration of golden eagle with the man, drawn from works of Abay Kunanbaev
		50 tenge	reddish	light red	Portrait of Abulhair Khan	Rock paintings of Mangistau
		100 tenge	violet	pink	Portrait of Ablay Khan	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum
		200 tenge	brown, red	yellow, blue	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum	1994
		500 tenge	dark blue, blue	blue, violet	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum
		1,000 tenge	green, red	green, blue, red	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum
		2,000 tenge	green, blue	green, brown	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum	1996
		5,000 tenge	brown, violet	brown	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Hodja Ahmed Yassavi mausoleum	1998
		10,000 tenge	blue	blue, brown	Portrait of Al-Farabi	Snow leopard against a background of mountains	2003

Some 2,000 tenge notes spelled the word "банкі" (bank) incorrectly as "банқі".

The National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new series of tenge banknotes in 2006. They have the same values as the previously existed ones.

The 2006 series is far more exotic than its predecessors. The obverse is vertical and the denomination is written in Kazakh. All denominations depict the Astana/Nur-Sultan Bayterek monument, the flag of Kazakhstan, the Coat of arms, the handprint with a signature of president Nursultan Nazarbayev and fragments of the national anthem. The main differences across each denomination are only the colours, denominations and underprint patterns.

On the contrast, the reverse side of the notes are more different. The denomination is written in Russian, and each denomination shows a unique building and geography of Kazakhstan in the outline of its borders.

The first printing of the 2,000 and 5,000 tenge notes issued in 2006 had misspellings of the word for "bank" (the correct spelling "банкі" banki was misspelled "банқі" banqi). The misspelling was a politically sensitive issue due to the cultural and political importance of the Kazakh language.[11]

On October 3, 2016, the 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge banknotes of the 2006 series lost their legal tender status and are no longer valid. From October 4, 2016 to October 3, 2017, these notes can be exchanged without commission at any second tier bank and branches of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.[12]

2006 Series
Image		Value	Main Colour	Description		Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse
		200 tenge	orange	Nur-Sultan Bayterek monument, Kazakhstan flag, Kazakhstan coat of arms, handprint with a signature of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, fragments of the national anthem, value in numerals and Kazakh words, issuing bank in Kazakh, inscription in Kazakh stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law	Transport and Communication Ministry and a winged snow leopard on the bridge over River Ishim, outline map of Kazakhstan with Ministry of Defense and the steppes in the background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law	2006-2016[12]
		500 tenge	blue		Ministry of Finance and Akimat (City Hall) of Astana/Nur-Sultan, outline map of Kazakhstan with gulls over the sea in background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law
		1,000 tenge	brown		President Culture Center, outline map of Kazakhstan with mountains in background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law
		2,000 tenge	green		Abai Opera House, outline map of Kazakhstan with mountain lake in background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law
		5,000 tenge	red		Independence Monument and the Kazakhstan Hotel, outline map of Kazakhstan with mountains in background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law
		10,000 tenge	purple		Residence Akorda (presidential palace), outline map of Kazakhstan with canyons in the background, value in Russian, name of issuing in Kazakh, logo of issuing bank, inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law

The National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new series of tenge banknotes dated 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 tenge.[13][14][15][16] The designs for this series feature the "Kazakh Eli" monument on the front of the notes. On 1 December 2015, a new 20,000-tenge banknote was introduced. It contains the issue date of 2013, and is a commemorative note to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the introduction of its national currency, but was not issued until 2015.[17] In 2017, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a 500-tenge banknote as part of this series, but has caused controversy over an image of a gull on the reverse side of the note and the image of the Moscow business center in Kazakhstan's capital of Nur-Sultan.[18]

Since 2008, a number of commemorative designs have been issued, including notes celebrating the 2011 Asian Winter Games hosted in Nur-Sultan. Commemoratives can typically be found in these denominations: 1,000 tenge, 2,000 tenge, 5,000 tenge, and 10,000 tenge.