Catalog
15 Kyats
| Issuer | Union of Burma Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Third kyat (1952-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait vignette of General Aung San (born Htein Lin, 1915–1947), national independence hero, positioned to the left of centre in military uniform with rank insignia visible at the collar. To the right, a multicolour floral arabesque underprint frames a large guilloche rosette bearing the denomination in Burmese script, with the numeral 15 in Arabic digits at lower right. The issuer's name appears in Burmese script within a decorative panel across the upper right, and the numeral denomination in a green ornamental cartouche occupies the lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | FIFTEEN KYATS UNION OF BURMA BANK |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 15 Kyat note was issued because Ne Win, Burma's military ruler, considered 9 and its multiples to be his lucky numbers — a conviction rooted in personal numerology that directly dictated monetary policy. The series of 15-, 35-, 45-, 75-, and 90-Kyat denominations that appeared in 1986 replaced perfectly functional notes of standard value, causing immediate practical chaos in daily commerce. Within two years, the 1988 demonetization rendered most of these same notes worthless overnight, a decision that helped trigger the pro-democracy uprisings of that year.
The print run of roughly 12 million is modest, which combined with mass hoarding and subsequent panic exchanges makes genuinely circulated examples harder to find than uncirculated ones.