Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Lekë
| Issuer | Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Lekë (50 ALK) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Black and red letterpress print on a yellow guilloche underprint, with ornate foliate border frames at left and right. The Albanian state coat of arms — a double-headed eagle surmounted by a red star within an oval vignette — appears at right, while the central field carries the denomination in bold black type within a pale yellow underprint panel, flanked by decorative ribbon scrollwork in red. The date 1953 appears at lower right within the border frame. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 50 BUONA LEK 50 REPUBLIKA POPULLORE E SHQIPËRISË BANKA E SHTETIT SHQIPTAR 1953 DREJTORI I PËRGJITHSHËM KASIERI KRYESOR Buona Leke (Translation: 50 lek voucher. People's Republic of Albania. State Bank of Albania. Director General. Chief Cashier.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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 1953 Albanian currency reform was a direct consequence of postwar monetary chaos and the consolidation of Enver Hoxha's communist government. The entire series, of which this 50 Lekë is part, replaced the transitional issues that had circulated since liberation — at a punishing exchange rate that effectively wiped out private savings accumulated under the previous regime.
Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar, the State Bank, had been established only in 1945, making these among its earliest standardized issues. Albania's extreme isolation from the Soviet bloc's printing infrastructure at this period meant production arrangements were less straightforward than for most Eastern Bloc states.