The tenge (, or ; , ; ; sign: ₸; code: KZT) is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tiyn (, , ).

History After the breakup of the Soviet Union in December 1991, most of the formerly Soviet republics attempted to maintain a common currency. Some politicians hoped to at least maintain "special relations" among former Soviet republics (the "near abroad"). Other reasons were the economic considerations for maintaining the ruble zone. The wish to preserve strong trade relations between former Soviet republics was considered the most important goal.

The break-up of the Soviet Union was not accompanied by any formal changes in monetary arrangements. The Central Bank of Russia took over the State Bank of the USSR (Gosbank) on 1 January 1992. It continued to ship Soviet notes and coins to the central banks of the eleven newly independent countries, which had formerly been the main branches of Gosbank in the republics.

The political situation, however, was not favourable for maintaining a common currency. Maintaining a common currency requires a strong political consensus in respect to monetary and fiscal targets, a common institution in charge of implementing these targets, and some minimum of common legislation (concerning the banking and foreign-exchange regulations). These conditions were far from being met amidst the turbulent economic and political situation.

During the first half of 1992, there existed a monetary union where 15 independent states all used the ruble. Since it was clear that the situation would not last, each of them was using its position as "free-riders" to issue huge amounts of money in the form of credit. As a result, some countries were issuing coupons in order to "protect" their markets from buyers from other states. The Russian central bank responded in July 1992 by setting up restrictions to the flow of credit between Russia and other states. The final collapse of the ruble zone began when Russia pulled out with the exchange of banknotes by the Central Bank of Russia on Russian territory at the end of July 1993.

As a result, Kazakhstan and other countries still in the ruble zone were "pushed out." On 12 November 1993, the president of Kazakhstan issued a decree "On introducing national currency of Republic of Kazakhstan." The tenge was introduced on 15 November 1993 to replace Soviet currency at a rate of ₸ 1 = Rbls 500. In 1991, a "special group" of designers was set up: Mendybay Alin, Timur Suleymenov, Asimsaly Duzelkhanov and Khayrulla Gabzhalilov. Thus 15 November is celebrated as the "Day of National Currency of Republic of Kazakhstan". In 1995 a tenge-printing factory opened in Kazakhstan. The first consignment of tenge banknotes were printed in the United Kingdom and the first coins were struck in Germany. In February 2019, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a bill into law that would remove all Russian captions from future tenge banknotes and coins.

Etymology The word tenge in Kazakh and in most other Turkic languages means balance, a set of weighing scale, balanced scale and parity of scale or other measurements. (Turkish denge, cf the old Uzbek tenga or the Tajik borrowed term tanga). The origin of the word is the Mongolic word teng (ᠲᠡᠩ) originating from Chinese děng (等 or 戥) 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 also related to the Russian word for money / , which the Old Russian language borrowed from Turkic sources.

Symbol

Originally a simple letter "Т" was used to denote amounts in tenge, this is still recommended when the tenge symbol is not available. In autumn 2006 the National Bank of Kazakhstan organised a competition for a unique symbol for the currency and received over 30,000 applications.

On 20 March 2007, two days before the Nauryz holiday, the National Bank of Kazakhstan approved a graphical symbol for the tenge: ₸.

On 29 March 2007, the Bank announced two designers from Almaty, Vadim Davydenko and Sanzhar Amirkhanov, as winners for the design of the symbol of the Kazakhstani tenge. They shared a prize of ₸1,000,000 and the title of "parents" of the tenge symbol.

The character was included in Unicode 5.2.0 (August 2009) at code point .

Coins While older coins were struck in Germany, current coins are struck domestically, by the Kazakhstan Mint in Oskemen.

First series (1993) 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. The coins of ₸ 1, ₸ 3, ₸ 5, ₸ 10, and ₸ 20 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. Tiyin coins were withdrawn as of 7 February 2001 and lost their effect as legal currency as of 31 December 2012.Указ Президента Республики Казахстан от 7 февраля 2001 года № 549 «О некоторых вопросах функционирования национальной валюты Республики Казахстан».

ImageDenominationMaterialDiameterMassThicknessEdgeDate of Issue Minting Withdrawal 2 tiyinBrass17.27 mm2.26 g1.3 mmSmooth1 March 1994199331 December 2012 5 tiyin 10 tiyin 19.56 mm 3.48 g 1.6 mm 20 tiyin 21.87 mm 4.71 g 1.7 mm 50 tiyin 25 mm 7.43 g 2 mm T 1Nickel silver 17.27 mm 2.26 g 1.3 mmSmooth25 October 19951 October 2001 T 3 19.56 mm 3.48 g 1.6 mm T 5 21.87 mm 4.71 g 1.7 mm T 10 25 mm 7.43 g2 mm T 20 31 mm 11.37 g Grooved

Second series (1998)

In 1998, a new series of coins was introduced. After the withdrawal of tiyin denominated coins ₸ 1 became the smallest denomination. ₸ 100 were later introduced in 2002 replacing the equivalent notes. A ₸ 2 coin was introduced in 2005. In 2013 the alloy of lower denomination coins was altered.

Second series coins of the Kazakh tenge (1997–2018) Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of Diameter Mass Thickness Composition Edge Obverse Reverse Minting Issue Withdrawal Lapse ₸1 15 mm 1.63 g 1.3 mmAlloy of "nickel silver", yellow color(since 2013 - carbon steel, galvanic coating yellow metal)PlainValueYear, Emblem of Kazakhstan1997~201811 November 1998Current ₸2 16 mm 1.84 g 1.3 mm2005, 200623 February 2005 ₸5 17.27 mm 2.18 g 1.3 mm1997~201811 November 1998 ₸10 19.56 mm 2.81 g 1.3 mm ₸20 18.27 mm 2.9 g 1.6 mmAlloy of "nickel silver", white color (since 2013 - carbon steel and galvanic nickel)GroovedValueYear, Emblem of Kazakhstan1997~201811 November 1998Current ₸50 23 mm 4.7 g 1.6 mm ₸100 24.5 mm 6.65 g 1.95 mm Inner disk: alloy of "nickel silver", white colorOuter disk: alloy of "nibrass", yellow color. Grooved with the note - «СТО ТЕНГЕ - ЖYЗ ТЕҢГЕ» (one hundred tenge) 2002~2007 1 July 2002

Third series (2019) In 2019, a new series of coins was introduced into circulation, 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.

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 Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on 20 March 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 coins, which were issued into circulation in 2020. This new denomination features inscriptions in Latin-based Kazakh, and like the ₸100 coin, is bi-metallic. Қазақстан Ұлттық Банкі. Retrieved on 2021-08-28.

Third series coins of the Kazakh tenge (2019–present) Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of Diameter Mass Thickness Composition Edge Obverse Reverse Minting Issue Withdrawal Lapse ₸1 15 mm 1.63 g 1.3 mmCarbon steel, galvanic coating yellow metalPlainValueYear, Emblem of Kazakhstan2019~present26 April 2019Current ₸2 16 mm 1.84 g 1.3 mm ₸5 17.27 mm 2.18 g 1.3 mm ₸10 19.56 mm 2.81 g 1.3 mm ₸20 18.27 mm 2.9 g 1.6 mmCarbon steel and galvanic nickelGroovedValueYear, Emblem of Kazakhstan2019~present26 April 2019Current ₸50 23 mm 4.7 g 1.6 mm ₸100 24.5 mm 6.65 g 1.95 mm Inner disk: alloy of "nickel silver", white colorOuter disk: alloy of "nibrass", yellow color. Grooved with the note - «JÚZ TEŃGE» (one hundred tenge) ₸200 26 mm 7.5 g 1.9 mmAluminium-brass center in copper-nickel ringSixteen indentations ('Spanish flower') with alternate plain and reeded sections2020~present28 January 2020

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

Banknotes

1993 series

The banknotes were introduced into circulation on November 15, 1993. Following the introduction of the first series of coins, the fractional notes (denominated in tiyn) were withdrawn from circulation.

On November 15, 2006, the 1993 series banknotes of 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 tenge were officially withdrawn from circulation. De facto, they began to leave circulation between 1999 and 2003. Following the withdrawal date, the old banknotes were accepted for exchange by all second-tier banks for one year; for an additional five years, the exchange could only be performed at branches of the National Bank after an authenticity check.

NBRK Banknotes (Series I) Image Denomination Dimensions(mm) Maincolors Description DatesObverseReverse Obverse Reverse Printing Withdrawal 1 tiyn 105×65 Green Denomination Coat of arms, denomination November 15, 1993 December 30,1995 2 tiyn Blue 5 tiyn Violet 10 tiyn Pink 20 tiyn Turquoise 50 tiyn Brown 1 tenge 124×62 Blue Portrait of philosopher and scholarAl-Farabi (872–951) Al-Farabi's geometric constructions and formulas November 15,2006 3 tenge Grey-greenLime Portrait of akynSuyunbay Aronuly (1815–1898) Trans-Ili Alatau mountains 5 tenge BrownYellowPink Portrait of folk musicianKurmangazy Sagyrbayuly (1818–1889) Mausoleum complex 10 tenge 144×69 Dark greenGreen Portrait of traveler and scholarShoqan Walikhanov (1835–1865) Ok-Zhetpes mountain 20 tenge Dark brownBrown Portrait of the founder of Kazakh literatureAbai Qunanbaiuly (1845–1904) Eagle hunter with a golden eagle 50 tenge Light brownBrown Portrait of the Khan of the Junior jüzAbul-Khayr Khan (1693–1748) Rock art from Mangystau Region 100 tenge VioletPink Portrait of the Khan of the Middle jüzAblai Khan (1711–1781) Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed YasawiImage scale is 1.0 pixel per millimeter.+

Banknotes of the 1993-2003 series NBRK Banknotes (Series II) Image Denomination(tenge) Dimensions(mm) Maincolors Description DatesObverseReverse Obverse Reverse Issue Printing Withdrawal 200 144×69 Light orange Portrait of Al-Farabi Fragment of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi March 1,1994 1993 September 1,2001 September 1,2000 1999 November 15,2007 November 15,2002 500 Light violet July 27,1994 1994 September 1,2001 September 1,2000 1999 November 15,2007 November 15,2002 1,000 Bluishgreen February 14,1995 1994 November 1,2002 Light blueBlue November 2,2001 2000 November 15,2007 2,000 GreenBlack November 15,1996 1996 November 1,2002 GreenLight blue November 2,2001 2000 November 15,2007 5,000 149×74 RedBrown November 15,1999 1998 BrownViolet December 16,2001 2001 10,000 Light blueBlue Snow leopard with mountains in the background July 28,2003 2003Image scale is 1.0 pixel per millimeter. In 2016, the 10,000 tenge banknote was recognized as the most beautiful banknote in the world by The Telegraph newspaper.