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The Armenian dram (;
sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...
: ֏; abbreviation: դր.; ISO code: AMD) is the
currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...
of
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma (). The
Central Bank of Armenia The Central Bank of Armenia () is the central bank of Armenia with its headquarters in Yerevan. The CBA is an independent institution responsible for issuing all banknotes and coins in the country, overseeing and regulating the banking sector and ...
is responsible for issuance and circulation of dram banknotes and coins, as well as implementing the monetary policy of Armenia. The word ''dram'' means "money" and is cognate with the Greek
drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...
and the Arabic
dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...
, as well as the English weight unit
dram Dram, DRAM, or drams may refer to: Technology and engineering * Dram (unit), a unit of mass and volume, and an informal name for a small amount of liquor, especially whisky or whiskey * Dynamic random-access memory, a type of electronic semicondu ...
.


History

The first instance of a "dram" currency was in the period from 1199 to 1375, when silver coins called ''dram'' or ''tram'' were issued. Dram or Takvorin coinage would periodically continue to be produced for some time until the loss of Armenia's independence. The establishment of
Russian Armenia Russian Armenia is the period of Armenian history under Russian rule from 1828, when Eastern Armenia became part of the Russian Empire following Qajar dynasty, Qajar Iran's loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) and the subsequent ceding of ...
saw the adoption of the Imperial ruble, followed by a series of attempts to localize the Russian ruble under the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...
(CIS). On 21 September 1991, a national referendum proclaimed
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
as a republic independent from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The
Central Bank of Armenia The Central Bank of Armenia () is the central bank of Armenia with its headquarters in Yerevan. The CBA is an independent institution responsible for issuing all banknotes and coins in the country, overseeing and regulating the banking sector and ...
, established on 27 March 1993, was given the exclusive right of issuing the national currency. In the immediate aftermath of the
collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
attempts were made to maintain a common currency (the
Russian rouble The ruble or rouble (; Currency symbol, symbol: ₽; ISO 4217, ISO code: RUB) is the currency of the Russia, Russian Federation. Banknotes and coins are issued by the Central Bank of Russia, which is Russia's central bank, monetary authority ind ...
) among CIS states. Armenia joined this rouble zone. However it soon became clear that maintaining a
currency union A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union ...
in the unstable political and economical circumstances of the
post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
would be very difficult. The Rouble Zone effectively collapsed with the unilateral 1993 Russian monetary reform process. As a result, the remaining CIS participants –
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
,
Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
,
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
,
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
, Armenia and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
– were 'pushed out' and forced to introduce separate currencies. Armenia was one of the last countries to do so when it introduced the dram on 22 November 1993.


Armenian dram 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). Until the official endorsement of the sign a number of artists and businessmen developed and offered various shapes for it. Now the dram symbol is included in the Armenian standard for the national characters and symbols and in the Armenian computer fonts. The current standard sign for the Armenian dram (֏, image: ; ;
code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...
: AMD) was designed in 1995. In Unicode, it is encoded at .


Coins

In 1994, a first series of aluminium coins was introduced in denominations of 10, 20, and 50 luma, 1, 3, 5, and 10 drams. In 2003 and 2004, a second series consisting of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dram coins was introduced to replace the first series. The Central Bank has also issued a great number of commemorative coins intended for sale to collectors. A listing can be found at the authorized central bank distributors.


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 drams. The other coins are officially in circulation but rarely used because of their low nominal value. * 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 drams. * All coins bear the year of the first issue (2003 or 2004).


Banknotes

A first series of banknotes was issued in November 1993. It was withdrawn from circulation by 2005. A second series was issued from 1998 onwards which is still in use at present.


First series (1993–1998)

On 22 November 1993, banknotes of 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 drams were issued. Notes for ֏1,000 and ֏5,000 were put into circulation later.


Second series (1998–2017)

Banknotes of ֏50, ֏100, and ֏500 are rarely seen in circulation. Coins of ֏50, ֏100, and ֏500 are used instead.
A commemorative ֏50,000 note was issued on 4 June 2001 in commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the adoption of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
.


500 dram commemorative note (2017)

A 500 dram commemorative note was issued on 22 November 2017 to commemorate both the story of Noah's Ark and the 25th anniversary of Armenia's national currency.


Third series (2018–present)

A third series of Armenian dram banknotes was issued in 2018, 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 50, 100, 500, and 100,000 dram banknotes for this issue. The new series are printed on
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
substrates of Louisenthal. The first three denominations, ֏10,000, ֏20,000 and ֏50,000, were issued on November 22, 2018 to mark 25 years of Armenian currency. The final three denominations, ֏1,000, ֏2,000 and ֏5,000 were issued on December 25, 2018.


Exchange rates

The modern dram came into effect on 22 November 1993, at a rate of Rbls 200 = 1 dram (
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
1 = 404 drams).


See also

*
Artsakh dram The Artsakh dram () was a monetary unit of the '' de facto'' independent Republic of Artsakh, which was dissolved on 1 January 2024 in the aftermath of Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite being legal tender, it was not as widely u ...
*
Economy of Armenia The economy of Armenia grew by 5.9% in 2024, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, with total output amounting to $25.5 billion. GDP contracted sharply in 2020 by 7.1%, mainly due to the COVID-19 recession and the Second Nag ...
*
List of currencies A list of all currencies, current and historic. The local name of the currency is used in this list, with the adjectival form of the country or region. A * Afghani – Afghanistan * Akşa – Tuvan People's Republic * Angolar –Angola * ...
*
List of currencies in Europe There are 27 currency, currencies currently used in the List of countries in Europe#Recognised states, 50 countries of Europe. All ''de facto'' present currencies in Europe, and an incomplete list of the preceding currency, are listed here. In E ...
*
List of circulating currencies There are 180 currency, currencies recognized as legal tender in United Nations (UN) Member states of the United Nations, member states, United Nations General Assembly observers, UN General Assembly non-member observer states, List of states wi ...
* List of people on coins of Armenia


References


External links


Central Bank of Armenia

Central Bank of Armenia next day USD to AMD exchange rate prediction Engine

Armenian Dram Sign
History, shape, and promotion of Armenian Dram Sign
Coin Types from Armenia
Lists, pictures, and values of Armenian coin types *

{{Portal bar, Economics, Money, Numismatics Economy of Armenia Currencies introduced in 1993 Currencies of Armenia Currencies of Asia Circulating currencies Currencies of Europe