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20 Apsars Kabardinetz
| Issuer | National Bank of Abkhazia |
|---|---|
| Year | 2021 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Cyrillic, Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a vivid full-color portrait of a Kabardinetz (Kabardian warrior) rendered in the style of a 19th-century ethnographic illustration, depicted in full figure standing against a fine engine-turned background field. The subject wears a traditional Circassian coat (chokha) in terracotta-orange with a cartridge belt (gaziri) across the chest, a fur papakha hat, leather boots, and carries a long rifle slung over his shoulder with a second firearm at his waist. The upper register features a dark decorative band bearing the Circassian inscription 'азахэ адыгэ' flanked by symmetrical snowflake and Circassian ornamental motifs, with a central white equestrian device depicting two horsemen. The entire composition is enclosed within a beaded rectangular border with decorative corner elements in the Circassian artistic tradition. |
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| Additional information |
Abkhazia's apsar coinage occupies a peculiar corner of numismatics — issued by a central bank of a state recognized by only a handful of UN members, with Russia's formal recognition in 2008 following the brief August war serving as the political foundation that made a functioning national currency apparatus even theoretically viable. The coins circulate in name only; the Russian ruble handles daily commerce.
The Kabardinetz is a breed with deep roots in the North Caucasus, developed over centuries by mountain peoples for whom a reliable horse was survival equipment. That this horse appears on an Abkhazian issue rather than an Adyghe or Kabardino-Balkarian one reflects the tangled ethnic geography of the region.