Catalog
50 000 Dram
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 000 Dram |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents the Mother Cathedral of Holy Echmiadzin in fine intaglio engraving, flanked at left by a circular medallion seal bearing a cathedral image and the numerals "1700" below, commemorating 1,700 years of Christianity as Armenia's state religion. The denomination "50000" appears in large numerals at upper left and upper right, with Armenian script inscriptions running across the upper register and the denomination in Armenian letters at lower left. A multicolour guilloche underprint with repeated cathedral motifs runs along the left margin as an additional security element. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԿԵՆՏՐՈՆԱԿԱՆ ԲԱՆԿ ԱՍՏՎԱԾ ԸՆԴ ՄԵԶ Է ՀԻՍՈՒՆ ՀԱԶԱՐ ԴՐԱՄ (Translation: Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia God is with Us Fifty Thousand Drams) |
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| Comments |
Armenia's highest-denomination banknote at the time of issue, the 50,000 Dram was produced by Thomas De La Rue at a moment when the dram itself was only eight years old — introduced in 1993 to replace the Soviet ruble following independence. The denomination reflects the cumulative effect of the hyperinflationary period of the early 1990s, during which Armenia's economy contracted severely under the combined pressure of the post-Soviet transition, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and an energy blockade that left much of the country without heat or electricity for years.
De La Rue's involvement gave the series a level of technical security credibility the young central bank could not have produced domestically.