Catalog
20 Franka Ari
| Issuer | Banka Kombëtare e Shqipnis |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANKA KOMBËTARE E SHQIPNIS BANCA NAZIONALE D'ALBANIA NJIZET FRANKA ARI VENTI FRANCHI ORO TË PAGUESHËME NË TË PAME PRUËSIT PAGABILI AL VISTA AL PORTATORE KRYETARI IL PRESIDENTE KËSHILLIARI SEKRETAR IL CONSIGLIERE SECRETARIO LIGJI DENON FABRIKATORET DHE SHPERNDAESIT E BILETAVE TE FALLSIFIKUEME LA LEGUE PUNISCE I FABRICATORI E GLI SPACCIATORI DI BIGLIETTI FALSI (Translation: National Bank of Albania Twenty Gold Francs Payable to the bearer at sight The Law punishes the fabricators and distributors of counterfeit banknotes.) |
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| Reverse lettering | NJIZET VENTI (Translation: Twenty) |
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| Comments |
Albania's first national bank, established in 1925 under Italian financial sponsorship, issued this note the following year as part of the country's maiden paper currency series. The "Ari" designation — gold franc — was a deliberate peg to the gold standard, though the currency's practical backing was always more political than metallic. Bradbury Wilkinson, then operating out of New Malden, produced the printing; their work for newly sovereign and client states across the interwar period was extensive, and Albanian notes of this period follow their characteristically clean intaglio style.
The series is genuinely scarce in any grade, largely because Albanian paper money penetration remained shallow in a rural economy that still preferred coin.