Armenia's first national coinage, issued in 1994, came three years after independence from the Soviet Union and coincided with an active war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The economy was in freefall — GDP had collapsed by roughly 60% since 1990, and these aluminium luma denominations held almost no purchasing power even at the moment of issue. The series was as much a declaration of sovereignty as a functional currency.
Armenia's first national coinage, issued in 1994, came three years after independence from the Soviet Union and coincided with an active war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The economy was in freefall — GDP had collapsed by roughly 60% since 1990, and these aluminium luma denominations held almost no purchasing power even at the moment of issue. The series was as much a declaration of sovereignty as a functional currency.