2019-01-16 Wed

Armenia released three new notes of the denomination 1,000-, 2,000-, and 5,000-dram on 25th December. These were the last three releases from the country’s latest banknote series. The 5,000-dram note is dedicated to the famous author and Armenia’s national hero, William Saroyan. Born on 31st August 1908, Saroyan was a United States citizen from Fresno, California. His parents had immigrated from Bitlis in western Armenia. He wrote about the hardships faced by immigrants in early 20th century America. Saroyan always wrote in English but called himself an Armenian writer. Many of his works were admired and followed by Armenians all over the world. The obverse side of the note depicts a portrait of Saroyan, excerpts from his books and a mountain in the background. The reverse features a statue of Saroyan located in Yerevan city.

The 1,000-dram note features poet Paruyr Sevak, while the 2,000-dram note is dedicated to the Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969, Tigran Petrosian. 10,000-, 20,000-, and 50,000-dram notes from the new series were released on 22nd November 2018.

The notes are printed on a Hybrid substrate made of a cotton base inside a protective polyester film. All notes have improved security features such as a security thread, 3D effect watermark, “LaserCut” window, and an iridescent strip that changes colour on the reverse. A German company named Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology printed the notes.

Image Courtesy: Central Bank of Armenia