Issued in the early years of Uzbek independence, this coin appeared while the som itself was still struggling — the currency had launched in 1994 as a transitional measure and spent much of the late 1990s under severe depreciation pressure tied to commodity export restrictions and an inconvertible exchange rate. A silver commemorative denomination of 100 som carried considerable irony at a time when the circulating currency was losing purchasing power steadily against the dollar.
Issued in the early years of Uzbek independence, this coin appeared while the som itself was still struggling — the currency had launched in 1994 as a transitional measure and spent much of the late 1990s under severe depreciation pressure tied to commodity export restrictions and an inconvertible exchange rate. A silver commemorative denomination of 100 som carried considerable irony at a time when the circulating currency was losing purchasing power steadily against the dollar.