Azerbaijan: post-Soviet coinage

Started by <k>, March 18, 2016, 07:57:53 PM

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<k>



Azerbaijan is located in the Caucasus region of West Asia. It was a republic of the former Soviet Union but is now independent. The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which lies to the south-west of Armenia, is an exclave of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh and part of the surrounding territory are under Armenian control.

From Wikipedia:

Following the politics of glasnost in the USSR, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, civil unrest and ethnic strife grew in various regions of the Soviet Union, including Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of the Azerbaijan SSR where ethnic Armenians were predominant. The disturbances in Azerbaijan resulted in calls for independence and secession from the USSR. In 1990 the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR dropped the words "Soviet Socialist" from the title, adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan Republic and restored the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as a state flag. On 18 October 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence which was affirmed by a nationwide referendum in December 1991, when the Soviet Union was officially dissolved.

The early years of independence were overshadowed by the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Armenia. By the end of hostilities in 1994, Armenians controlled up to 14-16 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
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See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#1


After the Soviet Union collapsed, Azerbaijan hurriedly produced a national coinage, which started to appear in 1992 and 1993. The manat consisted of 100 qapik and was officially introduced on 5 August 1992, replacing the Soviet ruble at a rate of 10 rubles to 1 manat.

Most of the crudely struck coins were in aluminium, but a few were struck in brass and also in copper-nickel. The set was poorly designed: the artist responsible committed the cardinal error of varying the side on which each element appeared. The denomination changed sides from the obverse to the reverse; sometimes the date was on its own, at other times it appeared alongside the denomination. On the 50 and 20 qapik the denomination appeared inside a geometric shape; on the other two coins it did not.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#2
Azerbaijan flag.png



Azerbaijan 20 qapik 1993.jpg


The design on the 20 qapik is clearly based on the national flag.

The 8-pointed star refers to the eight branches of the Turkic peoples.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#3
Azerbaijan emblem.gif

The three objects within the 8-pointed star) are possibly flames.


From Wikipedia:

The state emblem of Azerbaijan mixes traditional and modern symbols.

The focal point of the emblem is the fire symbol.

This symbol refers to Azerbaijan's many everlasting fires.

This gives it the name of "land of eternal fire".
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#4
Azerbaijan Maiden Tower.jpg



Azerbaijan 50 qapik 1993.jpg


The simplistic design on the 50 qapik coin is meant to depict the Maiden Tower of Baku.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#5
On 1 January 2006 the manat was redenominated at a rate of 5,000 old manat, and a new coin series was issued. The superb new designs were the work of Robert Kalina.

From Wikipedia:

Robert Kalina (born 29 June 1955) is an Austrian designer. For the National Bank of Austria he created the T 382 design, which was the winning design of the 1996 competition for the art shown on the euro banknotes. Kalina's design was chosen by the EMI Council (European Monetary Institute) on 3 December 1996. Kalina also designed the banknotes for the Azerbaijani manat, the 2010 series of the Syrian Pound, and the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark.

Azerbaijani coins in circulation are 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 50 qəpik. Most coins closely resemble the size and shape of various euro coins. Most notably the bimetallic 50 qəpik (similar to €2 coin) and the 10 qəpik (Spanish flower, like the 20 cent coin). Coins were first put into circulation during January 2006 and do not feature a mint year.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#6
The new design series celebrated the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.














1   qapik.  Folk musical instruments.
3   qapik.  Azeri literature: books and quill.
5   qapik.  Maiden Tower, Baku.
10 qapik.  Military helmet.  Symbolic of desire to regain Nagorno-Karabakh.
20 qapik.  Spiral staircase. Symbols of progress and science.
50 qapik.  Oil derricks. 

Designer: Robert Kalina.
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See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#7


Azerbaijan, 50 qapik, 1993.



Azerbaijan 5 qapik 2006.jpg

Azerbaijan, 5 qapik, 2006.


Here are the old and new designs of the Maiden Tower. Which do you prefer?
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#8
Azeri instruments.jpg

Some the Azeri musical instruments shown on the 1 qapik design.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#9


Under the Soviets Azerbaijan was required to use the Cyrillic alphabet, but on independence it re-adopted the Azeri alphabet. It is an amended version of the Latin alphabet and is similar to the Turkish alphabet. The schwa -  "Ə" - is one letter that is not familiar to most Europeans, even though it is the most common sound in the English language!

See: Alphabets used on the coins of the ex-Soviet Asian republics.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Pabitra

Only series without year of minting on it.

Do you think it was intentional or an error?

Also the need to show denomination on either side in same format!!!
We're the obverse and reverse designed by two committees who were not on talking terms to each other😄

<k>

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.