10 Som National Currency

The som was introduced in May 1993 when Kyrgyzstan became one of the last former Soviet republics to abandon the Russian ruble, doing so under acute pressure from ruble zone collapse rather than on its own timetable. This 2003 bimetallic issue commemorates a decade of that independent currency — a period that included the 1998 financial crisis, during which the som lost roughly half its value against the dollar within months.

The silver-in-gold bimetallic construction is notably unusual for a Central Asian commemorative of this period, with most regional issuers opting for the cheaper cupro-nickel bimetallic format standard across post-Soviet commemorative programs.