Catalog
500 Lekë
| Issuer | Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949-1957 |
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| Size | 165 × 90 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 500 BANKA E SHTETIT SHQIPTAR 500 500 1957 PESË QINT LEKË 500 500 I PAGUHEN PRURËSIT ME TË PARË (Translation: State Bank of Albania Five Hundred Leke Payment to the bearer on demand 1957) |
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| Reverse lettering | 500 500 500 500 500 500 BANKA E SHTETIT SHQIPTAR 500 PESË QINT LEKË 24 MAJ 1944 LIGJA DËNON ATA QË FABRIKOJNË DHE NDAJNË BILETA TË FALLSIFIKUARA 500 LEKË 500 500 500 500 (Translation: State Bank of Albania Five Hundred Leke The law punishes those who fabricate and distribute counterfeit banknotes) |
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| Comments |
Albania's postwar monetary system was rebuilt under close Soviet supervision, and the choice of Goznak as printer for this series was political as much as practical — Moscow's state security printing works had handled Soviet currency for decades and was the natural partner for a newly Stalinist Balkan state consolidating its banking apparatus under the Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar, established in 1945. The 1947 currency reform had already wiped out wartime occupation issues; this 1949 series represented the settled postwar order.
Goznak's Moscow facility produced notes for several Soviet-aligned states during this period, and the technical standards are consistent with that output — the watermark being the sole declared security feature reflects both the era and Albania's relatively limited circulation economy at the time.