Note and Coin News

Kyrgyzstan Completes New Series

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) has issued the new 5,000 som banknote, the seventh and last banknote of the fifth series, completing the modernisation that started in May 2023. The new series includes denominations ranging from 20 to 5,000 som – all featuring RAPID HD® Detect from Crane Currency.

The banknote design was created by the Bank in collaboration with Crane Currency and Oberthur Fiduciaire. The front features a portrait of Kyrgyz actor and artist S Chokmorov and the reverse side shows the Ala-Too cinema in Bishkek.

Other security features include a multi-tonal watermark of the portrait along with an electrotype of the denomination numeral, a see through images, intaglio ink, a latent image, a gold-to-jade SPARK® Live patch which include three-dimensional concentric rings and, on the reverse, an iridescent stripe featuring the diamond-shaped logo of the NBKR and the denomination.

The previous banknotes in the new series – the 200, 500 and 1,000 som – were introduced in May 2023, followed by the 20, 50 and 100 som in February 2024. The principal design of the new banknotes are broadly unchanged from the 4th series, remaining a reflection of Kyrgyzstan’s historical and cultural heritage, with the portraits of representatives of art and culture preserved on the front of the banknotes and notable sites on the reverse. The main colour and size of the banknotes also remained unchanged, but all have been upgraded in terms of security, including the use of the RAPID HD Detect thread with its IR signal.