The som, sum, or soum is a unit of currency used in Turkic-speaking countries in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. Its name comes from words in the respective languages (including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uyghur and Uzbek) for "pure", referring to historical coins of pure

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. It may refer to: *

Kyrgyzstani som The som (Kyrgyz: сом; ISO code: KGS; sign: с) is the currency of Kyrgyzstan. Etymology The official name of the Soviet currency in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek was ''soum'', and this name appeared written on the back of banknotes ...

* Uzbekistani soʻm Speakers of Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek in the then

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

called the

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

by these names, and were accommodated by the word appearing on the backs of

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

s. The som of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

and som of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

are post-Soviet examples. UZS500 1999 front

In the Golden Horde

In the 14th century the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...

som called silver bullion navicular shape, weighing 204.8 g (in Russian numismatic literature, they are also called Tatar hryvnya). In treasures, archeologists find them together with silver dirhams. Florentine Francesco Pegolotti wrote that the mint in Azak could stamp a bar in the "walking" coin.

References

{{reflist Denominations (currency) Currencies of Asia