Currency of Turkmenistan

The currency of Turkmenistan is Manat; the ISO code of Manat is TMT. It was introduced on 27 October 1993, and was used to replace the Russian ruble. Manat is further divided into 100 tenge; the abbreviation ‘m’ is used to denote manat sometimes. The word ‘manat’ itself is borrowed from a Russian word that means ‘coin’.

Coins were first introduced in 1993; the life span of the first series of coins was short, as the worth of their metal value soon increased their face value. After a period of high inflation, new coins of 500 and 1000 manat were introduced, all of which depicted the picture of the president. The coins were issued in bimetallic, in 2009, following the monetary reform; these now feature the map of Turkmenistan with the Independence Tower. The first manat bank notes were issued in 1993; all but 1, and 5 bore the picture of the president. In 2005, the new manat was introduced, with a new series of notes; however, after a period of hyperinflation that devalued the currency, a third manat was introduced. An effort on part of the government of Turkmen owes to the printing of the former leaders portrait on the highest valued bank note, while others carry illustrations of buildings and portraits of other figures in history.