...Kyrgyzstan - 200, 500 and 1000 Som Set 2023 Series Commemorative 30th Year of National Currency

Кыргыз Республикасы

(Kyrgyz Republic)

 

Кыргыз Республикасынын Улуттук Банк

(National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, Est.1991)
Currency - Som (KGS)

 

On 01.11.2023, I posted three notes of 200, 500 and 1000 som. At the time of my posting, it was reported that these three notes were issued to celebrate the country's 30 years of National Currency 1993-2023. Since then more denominations have been released and here I have added the remaining notes of 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 som.

 

This is the fifth series of banknotes issued since its first series released in 1993, following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and independence was declared on 31.08.1991.

 

This set of notes were released on:

 

10.05.2023 - 200, 500 and 1000 som

15.02.2024 - 20, 50 and 100 som

10.05.2024 - 5000 som

 

The first series of Kyrgyzstan banknotes were released in 1993 (tyiyn and som) on 10.05.1993, and this new series was released exactly 30 years (for the 200, 500 and 1000 som) from the first series of banknotes. The issuance for this new series was announced on 28.04.2023.

The main designs for this series on the front and back are basically the same as those first issued in 2010 but with updated designs and additional security features added to the notes. Like those previously issued, this series reflects the historical and cultural heritage of Kyrgyzstan.

 

Twenty Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Watermark - Togolok Moldo and electrotype 20

Year - 2023

Dimensions - 121mm x 58mm

 

Front - Togolok Moldo (b.1860-1942), a poet, Manaschi and folk song writer.

Back - Tash-Rabat, located in the district of At-Bashy, Naryn Province  in Kyrgyzstan is a 15th century stone caravanserai. It is located in the middle of nowhere, and it does offer services to hikers and horse-trekkers. 

 

Fifty Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Watermark - Czarina Kurmanzhan Datka and electrotype 50

Year - 2023

Dimensions - 127mm x 61.5mm

 

Front - Czarina Kurmanzhan Datka (b.1811-1907) was a politician and was known as The Tsaritsa of Alai or The Queen of the South. She was also the leader who acquiesced under duress to the annexation of the country to the Russian in 1876.

 

Back - Mausoleum and minaret in Uzgen.

 

 

 

 

 

One Hundred Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Watermark - Toktogul Satylganov and electrotype 100

Year - 2023

Dimensions - 132.5mm x 63.5mm

 

Front - Toktogul Satylganov (b.1864-1933), Kyrgyz a poet and singer. There is a town in the Jalal-Abad province that is named after him, called Toktogul.

 

Back - Toktogul hydroelectric power station located on the Naryn River in the province of Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan.

 

 

 

 

Two Hundred Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Year - 2023

Watermark - Alykul Osmonov and electrotype 200

Dimensions - 138mm x 67mm

 

Front - Alykul Osmonov (b.1915-1950). During his short lifetime, he was a Kyrgyz poet, and he died at a very young age of 35 years old.

 

Back - The image of Lake Issyk-kul located in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. This lake is the seventh-deepest lake in the world. Presumably, above the image of the lake is a poem written by Alykul Osmonov.

 

Five Hundred Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Year - 2023

Watermark - Sayakbay Karalaev and electrotype 500

Dimensions - 145mm x 69mm

 

Front - Sayakbay Karalaev (b.1894-1971). He was a storyteller and a manaschi - a reciter of the epic Kyrgyz poem Manas.

 

Back - Manas Mausoleum, allegedly the burial site of Manas. Manas is a Kyrgyz epic hero, who is said to have been buried in the Ala-Too mountains in Talas Province in northwestern Kyrgyzstan.

 

One Thousand Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Year - 2023

Watermark - Jusup Balasagyn and electrotype 1000

Dimensions - 151mm x 72mm

 

Front - Jusup Balasagyn (a.k.a. Yusuf Khass Hajib b.1019-1077). He was a poet, statesman, vizier, and a philosopher. Unlike the 200 and 500 som notes, there is no date printed underneath the portrait of Jusup Balasagyn  to say when he was born or died. I believe it is due to the fact that no one actually knows the dates.

 

Back - Throne of Solomon monument on Sulaiman-Too Sacred mountain a.k.a. Mount Sulaiman, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the one and only UNESCO Heritage Site in the whole of Kyrgyzstan, and is located in the city of Osh.

Five Thousand Som

 

Chairman (Төрага) - Kubanychbek Bokontaev

Year - 2023

Watermark - Suymenkoul Chokmorov and electrotype 5000

Dimensions 157mm x 73.5mm

 

Front - Suymenkoul Chokmorov (b.1939-1992), a Kyrgyz who graduated from the Bishkek College of Fine Arts in 1958. From 1964 to 1967, he studied painting at the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Leningrad. After graduation, he taught painting from 1964 to 1967, and then became an actor after that. He died relatively young at the age of 52 years old.

Back - Alo-Too cinema in Bishkek. The cinema is situated in the heart of Bishkek. This cinema has 4 screen rooms, and the largest has the capacity of 344 seats. In the background is a scene of mountain range.

 

Footnote:

Here is the link (courtesy of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan) from the Central Bank confirming that these three notes honouring the 30th Anniversary of the national currency.