Uzbekistan released a new yellow/brown coloured 100,000-som note on 25th February. This is the third “high value” denomination that’s added to the country’s latest note series since 2017. As per official reports, the average wage of Uzbekistan is increasing and the high denomination notes will make the payment process easier. The notes will also reduce costs incurred on cash transportation, delivery, and storage. Now there are 10 denominations in the series namely, 25-, 50-, 100-, 200-, 500-, 1,000-, 5,000-, 10,000-, 50,000-, and 100,000-som notes.
The obverse side of the latest 100,000-som features a famous statue of the great astronomer, mathematician and sultan, Mirzo Ulugbek (1394 to 1449), aka Ulugh Beg. The statue is located at an observatory which he built in Samarkand in 1428. Other images indicating his achievements in astronomy are also shown. The reverse side depicts the Memorial Museum of Mirzo Ulugbek, located near the observatory.
Printed by Crane Currency, the note features a 5-millimetre micro-optic RAPID security thread that has a 3-D effect. Images on the thread seem to be moving upon tilting the note. Only three such notes of Uzbekistan have this feature.
Ulugh Beg had put together a catalogue of information about 1,018 stars in 1437. He completed his most noted work, Zij-i Sultani in 1444, which is an astronomical table that went on to become the world’s basic astronomy guidebook. Ulugh Beg is considered to be as successful as Copernicus, Galileo and Ptolemy in the field of astronomy.
Image Courtesy: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan