The Armenian dram
Currency · AMD · ֏ · 1 country
The Central Bank of Armenia, founded on 27 March 1993 with the sole right to issue a national currency, put the dram into circulation on 22 November of that year. It replaced the Soviet rouble at 200 roubles to one dram, and the two circulated side by side until 17 March 1994. Armenia marks 22 November each year as Armenian Dram Day.
The sign
The ֏ was designed in 1995, after businesses had been sketching dram signs of their own in their daybooks. Its form follows the pattern of Armenian letters. The abbreviation դր. is used as well.
- ISO code
- AMD
- ISO number
- 051
- Subunit
- luma, 1/100
An amount, written out
֏1,234.50
- ֏1,234.50English
- 1234,50 ֏ArmenianArmenia
In English the sign comes before the amount. Where the Armenian dram is used, it comes after the amount in Armenia.
The sign in code
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UTF-8
- HTML
֏֏- CSS
content: "\058F";- JavaScript
"\u058F"- UTF-8
0xD6 0x8F- UTF-16
0x058F- UTF-32
0x0000058F
Where the Armenian dram is the official currency
Armenia is the dram's one user, and its central bank, which holds the exclusive right to issue it, has run monetary policy on an inflation target since 2006.
About the Armenian dram
Why Armenia left the rouble zone
After the Soviet Union broke up, several CIS states tried to keep the Russian rouble as a shared currency, and Armenia joined them. The arrangement did not hold. Russia's monetary reform of 1993, carried out on its own, broke the rouble zone apart and pushed the remaining members, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, into issuing money of their own.
A referendum on 21 September 1991 had proclaimed Armenia a republic independent of the Soviet Union, and its central bank, dating from March 1993, holds the exclusive right to issue the dram. It also runs monetary policy, with an inflation target since 2006.
What the word dram means
Dram means money. The word is related to the Greek drachma, the Arabic dirham and the English weight called a dram. It had named Armenian coins before: silver pieces called dram or tram were struck between 1199 and 1375. Russian rule later brought the imperial rouble, and the rouble stayed through the Soviet decades.
Who appears on the banknotes
The first notes, of 10 to 500 dram, entered circulation in November 1993 with Armenian monuments on them. Notes of 1,000 and 5,000 dram were added in 1994 and 1995, and the whole series was out of circulation by 2005. Every later series has kept to portraits.
The second series, from 1998, turned to people. The composer Aram Khachatryan appears on the 50 dram note, the astrophysicist Viktor Hambardzumyan on the 100 and the painter Martiros Sarian on the 20,000. A 50,000 dram note of 2001 marked 1,700 years since Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion, and a 100,000 dram note showing King Abgar V followed in 2009.
The central bank issued a third series on 22 November 2018, twenty-five years after the dram arrived, printed on a composite substrate and with a new 2,000 dram note carrying the chess champion Tigran Petrosyan. Saint Gregory the Illuminator is on the 50,000.
What became of the luma
The dram was divided into 100 luma. The first Armenian coins, struck in aluminium alloy in 1994, came in 10, 20 and 50 luma and in 1, 3, 5 and 10 dram. A second coin series of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dram, in several alloys, replaced them in 2003 and 2004 and is the one in circulation. The ISO list still gives the dram two decimal places.
How the sign came into use
Businesses drew their own versions of a dram sign in their daybooks before any official form existed. Artists proposed shapes too. The standard ֏ was designed in 1995. It now belongs to the Armenian standard for national characters and symbols and ships in Armenian computer fonts, and Unicode encodes it at U+058F.
Common questions
Questions about the Armenian dram
When did Armenia start using the dram?
On 22 November 1993, when the Central Bank of Armenia issued notes of 10 to 500 dram. Each dram was exchanged for 200 Soviet roubles, and rouble notes remained in use beside it until 17 March 1994. Armenia had been part of a rouble zone of former Soviet states until Russia's 1993 monetary reform broke it apart.
Where does the Armenian dram sign come from?
Before there was an official sign, businesses wrote their own versions in their daybooks. Artists and businessmen then put forward several designs. The standard form was designed in 1995 and is now part of Armenia's national standard for characters and symbols.
Who is pictured on Armenian banknotes?
Since 1998 the notes have carried people from Armenian culture and history. The second series shows the composer Aram Khachatryan, the architect Alexander Tamanyan, the writers Yeghishe Charents, Hovhannes Tumanyan and Avetik Isahakyan, and the painter Martiros Sarian, among others. The third series, issued from 22 November 2018, keeps the idea with the poet Paruyr Sevak, the chess champion Tigran Petrosyan, the writer William Saroyan, the composer Komitas Vardapet, the marine painter Hovhannes Aivazovsky and Saint Gregory the Illuminator. Its notes are printed on a composite substrate.
Is the luma still used in Armenia?
The luma is the hundredth of a dram, and aluminium coins of 10, 20 and 50 luma were struck in 1994. The coin series introduced in 2003 and 2004 starts at 10 dram and is the one in circulation. The ISO code list still keeps two decimal places for AMD, which is where the luma survives.