The Turkmen manat
Currency · TMT · 1 country
Turkmenistan's own money went into circulation on 1 November 1993 and took over from the Soviet ruble. Inflation wore that first manat down, and on 1 January 2009 a new manat replaced it at 5,000 old manats to one. The Central Bank of Turkmenistan issues it, with notes printed by De La Rue and coins struck by the Royal Mint.
No sign of its own
The manat has no sign of its own on record. Amounts are written with the code TMT or with a lowercase m, the abbreviation for manat, after the figure. The name comes from the Russian word for a coin.
- ISO code
- TMT
- ISO number
- 934
- Subunit
- tenge, 1/100
- ISO name
- Turkmenistan New Manat
An amount, written out
TMT 1,234.50
- TMT 1,234.50English
- 1 234,50 TMTTurkmenTurkmenistan
In English the code comes before the amount. Where the Turkmenistani manat is used, it comes after the amount in Turkmenistan.
Where the Turkmenistani manat is the official currency
Turkmenistan uses it on its own, although Azerbaijan's currency carries the same name, taken from the Russian word for coin.
About the Turkmenistani manat
Where the word manat comes from
Manat comes from монета, the Russian for coin, which goes back to the Latin Monēta. In Soviet times it was the Turkmen and Azerbaijani name for the ruble itself. Azerbaijan's currency carries the same name. The hundredth is the tenge, teňňe in Turkmen.
Why the first manat gave way
The first notes of 1993 started at 1 manat, and the coins ran up to 50 tenge. Those coins did not last. Their metal soon became worth more than the figure stamped on them. Larger notes followed: a 1,000 manat note in 1995, then 5,000 and 10,000 in 1996. Coins of 500 and 1,000 manats appeared in 1999, and by law every coin of the period had to depict the sitting president.
A series of 2005 was first meant to revalue the manat at 1,000 old to one new. The revaluation was postponed, and the new notes circulated beside the old ones until 2009. That year the government brought in the new manat at 5,000 to one, with a fixed exchange rate. The old notes were withdrawn at the end of 2009.
What the redenominated manat shows
For the first manat, every note from 10 manats up carried the portrait of Saparmurat Niyazov, and the watermark was an Akhal-Teke horse. The series of 2009 moved away from him. Only the 500 manat note carries his portrait, and it has not been released. The other notes show historical and legendary figures on the front: Togrul Bek, founder of the Seljuk state, on the 1 manat, the poet Makhtumkuli on the 10 and Gorogly, the hero of Turkmen epics, on the 20. Buildings in Ashgabat fill the backs.
Modified notes in 2012 and 2014 added portrait watermarks and tactile marks for people with poor sight. In December 2025 the central bank issued polymer notes of 1, 5, 10 and 200 manats for the thirtieth anniversary of Turkmenistan's declaration of neutrality.
The coins of 2009 run from 1 to 50 tenge, and bimetallic 1 and 2 manat coins followed in 2010. They show a map of Turkmenistan with the Independence Tower in front of it, where the earlier coins had shown the head of state.
How the manat is held against the dollar
The exchange rate is fixed. From April 2009 it stood at 2.85 manats to the US dollar, and since January 2015 at 3.5. Cash exchanges are forbidden by law, and a black market rate exists beside the official one.
Common questions
Questions about the Turkmenistani manat
Why do Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan both call their money manat?
In Soviet times manat was the Turkmen and the Azerbaijani name for the ruble. The word is taken from монета, the Russian for coin, which itself comes from the Latin Monēta. Turkmenistan kept the name for the currency it launched on 1 November 1993, and Azerbaijan's currency carries it too.
What happened to Niyazov's portrait on the manat?
Saparmurat Niyazov's portrait was on every first manat note from 10 manats up, and a law required coins of that period to show the sitting president. The redenominated notes of 2009 dropped him from every value except the 500 manat, which has not been released into circulation. The move was part of an effort to dismantle the cult of personality built around him. The 2009 series shows historical and legendary figures such as the poet Makhtumkuli instead, and the new coins carry a map of the country with the Independence Tower in place of a head of state.
When did the new manat replace the old one?
On 1 January 2009, at 5,000 old manats to one new manat. A series of 2005 had been meant to revalue the currency at 1,000 to one, but that plan was postponed. The old notes were taken out of circulation at the end of 2009.
Who prints Turkmen banknotes?
De La Rue produces all Turkmen banknotes, and the Royal Mint strikes all the circulating coins. The Central Bank of Turkmenistan issues both. Under the first manat the notes carried an Akhal-Teke horse as their watermark, and the modified notes of 2012 and 2014 added tactile marks for people with poor sight.