Catalog
10 Leke
| Issuer | Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1964-1976 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a female textile worker in profile operating an industrial spinning loom, rendered in intaglio against a pale guilloche underprint. The Albanian state coat of arms — a double-headed eagle surmounted by a red star — appears at upper right, with the denomination numeral '10' set within an ornate lathe-work rosette to its lower right. The bank title 'BANKA E SHTETIT SHQIPTAR' runs across the top border, the denomination 'DHJETË LEKË' is inscribed in large display lettering along the lower centre, and the date '1976' appears at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar — the Albanian State Bank — issued this series under the tightly controlled economic apparatus of Enver Hoxha's government, which had severed ties with the Soviet Union by 1961 and was by the mid-1960s pivoting toward a brief, fractious alignment with China. Currency design and production during this period reflected the regime's insistence on self-sufficiency and ideological purity, though Albania continued to rely on foreign printing facilities it rarely acknowledged openly.
The twelve-year span of this issue is notable — a single series running from 1964 to 1976 without redesign, consistent with a command economy that had little incentive to refresh circulating paper.