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Georgian lari

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Georgian lari
ქართული ლარი (Georgian)
ISO 4217
CodeGEL (numeric: 981)
Subunit0.01
Unit
Unitlari
PluralThe language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Symbol₾, ლ,‎ (GEL[1])
Denominations
Subunit
 1⁄100tetri
Banknotes
 Freq. used₾5, ₾10, ₾20, ₾50, ₾100
 Rarely used₾1, ₾2, ₾200
Coins5, 10, 20, 50 tetri, ₾1, ₾2
Demographics
Date of introduction1995
ReplacedGeorgian coupon (კუპონი)
User(s) Georgia
Issuance
Central bankNational Bank of Georgia
 Websitewww.nbg.gov.ge
PrinterPolish Security Printing Works [pl]
 Websitewww.pwpw.pl
Valuation
Inflation0.0% (February 2024)
 SourceNational Bank of Georgia

The lari (Georgian: ლარი, pronounced [ˈɫaɾi]; ISO 4217: GEL) is the currency of Georgia. It is divided into 100 tetri (თეთრი). The name lari is an old Georgian word denoting a hoard, property, while tetri is an old Georgian monetary term (meaning 'white') used in ancient Colchis from the 6th century BC. Earlier Georgian currencies include the maneti (Georgian: მანეთი), abazi (აბაზი), and kuponi (კუპონი).

Kuponi

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Main article: Georgian kuponi

Georgia replaced the Soviet ruble on 5 April 1993, with the kuponi (Georgian: კუპონი) at par. This currency consisted only of banknotes, had no subdivisions and suffered from hyperinflation. Notes were issued in denominations between 1 and 1 million kuponi, including the somewhat unusual 3, 3,000, 30,000 and 150,000 kuponi.

  • Highest denominations of each series of the Georgian kuponi
  • 10 000 kuponi, 1993 (1st issue)
    10 000 kuponi, 1993 (1st issue)
  • 100 kuponi, 1993 (2nd issue)
    100 kuponi, 1993 (2nd issue)
  • 100 000 kuponi, 1993 (3rd issue)
    100 000 kuponi, 1993 (3rd issue)
  • 20 000 kuponi, 1994 (4th issue)
    20 000 kuponi, 1994 (4th issue)
  • 1 000 000 kuponi, 1994
    1 000 000 kuponi, 1994

Lari

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On 2 October 1995,[2] the government of Eduard Shevardnadze replaced the provisional coupon currency with the Lari, at a rate of one million to one. It has remained fairly stable since then.

Lari sign

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The Georgian Lari currency sign, introduced on 8 July 2014.

The NBG announced the Lari sign competition in December 2013. The temporary commission consisted of representatives of NBG, the Budget and Finance Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, the State Council of Heraldry, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.[3]

On 8 July 2014, Giorgi Kadagidze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), unveiled the winning proposal for the sign of the national currency to the public.[4] The author of the winning sign was professional artist-ceramist, Malkhaz Shvelidze.[3]

In choosing the winning sign, the commission gave priority to the samples based on the Georgian Mkhedruli character and made a point of the following criteria: conception, design, accordance with Georgian alphabet, existence of elements marking the currency, ease of construction, and observance of requests and recommendations determined by competition rules.[3]

The Lari sign is based on an arched letter ლ (Lasi) of the Georgian script. It is common international practice for a currency sign to consist of a letter, crossed by one or two parallel lines. Two parallel lines crossing the letter Lasi are the basic components of the Lari sign. The so-called “leg” of the letter, represented by a horizontal line, is a necessary attribute of the sign, adding monumental stability to the upper dynamic arc. The form of the letter is transformed in order to simplify its perception and implementation as a Lari sign.[3]

On 18 July 2014, Giorgi Melashvili, executive director of the National Bank of Georgia, sent a request letter to the Unicode Consortium to register the symbol in the Currency Symbols block of the Unicode Standard as

₾ U+20BE GEORGIAN LARI SIGN[5]

On 17 June 2015, the Unicode Consortium released[6] Unicode V8.0, which includes the Lari sign as

U+20BE ₾ LARI SIGN[7]

Coins

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Coins are issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 tetri, as well as 1 and 2 lari.

The National Bank of Georgia announced on 5 October 2018 that it would discontinue circulation of 1 and 2 Tetri coins as of 1 January 2021, and that these coins would lose their legal tender status. 1 and 2 Tetri coins could be exchanged at the National Bank of Georgia and commercial banks in Georgia within one year from 1 January 2021, and can only be exchanged at the National Bank of Georgia from 1 January 2022.[8][9] According to the new regulations on cash payments introduced by the National Bank of Georgia on 1 January 2019, 1 and 2 tetri are rounded to 0, and 3, 4, 6 and 7 tetri are rounded to 5[clarification needed].[10]

The National Bank of Georgia announced on 12 November 2015 that, effective 1 January 2018, the old 50 Tetri coin, issued since 1995, would be withdrawn from circulation and the coins would lose their legal tender status. The old 50 Tetri coin were exchangeable at the National Bank of Georgia and commercial banks of Georgia within one year from 1 January 2018, and from 1 January 2019 only at the National Bank of Georgia.[11][12][13]

Image Value Technical parameters Description Issued
from 		Withdrawn
Obverse Reverse Diameter
(mm) 		Mass
(g) 		Composition Edge Obverse Reverse
First series (1993)
1 tetri 15.00 1.38 Stainless
steel 		Smooth Vine tendril; value Borjgali over a tree of life;
year of issue; lettering:
საქართველოს
რესპუბლიკა;
Republic of Georgia 		1996 2021
2 tetri 17.50 1.90 Peacock; value
5 tetri 20.00 2.50 Golden lion from
Alazani valley; value 		Current
10 tetri 22.00 3.00 Saint Mammes riding
a lion from Gelati
Monastery; value
20 tetri 25.00 5.00 Stag by Niko
Pirosmani; value
50 tetri 19.00 2.50 Brass Griffin from Samtavisi
Cathedral; value 		2018
Second series (2006)
50 tetri 24.00 6.52 Cupronickel Reeded
lettering:
საქართველო ★
GEORGIA ★
საქართველო ★
GEORGIA ★ 		Value Coat of arms; sun beams;
year of issue; lettering:
საქართველო 		2006 Current
₾1 26.20 7.85 Half-milled; value Coat of arms;
year of issue; lettering:
საქართველო
₾2 27.00 8.00 Outer:
Cupronickel 		Sun rays; value
Inner:
Cu-Al-Ni
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

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Current series

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Between November 2016 and October 2019 the National Bank of Georgia released five banknotes (in denominations of ₾5, ₾10, ₾20, ₾50, and ₾100), composing a new complete set.[14] The 2016–2019 series lari notes were produced in collaboration with Oberthur Technologies, Giesecke+Devrient and De La Rue.

Upgraded series (2016–2019)
Image Value Dimensions
(mm) 		Main
colour 		Description Issued
from 		First
issued
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
₾5 122 × 62 Brown Ivane Javakhishvili;
Tbilisi State University 		Threshing & Fisherman
in a Red Shirt (Niko Pirosmani) 		2017 1 Sep 2017
₾10 127 × 64 Blue Akaki Tsereteli;
Tsereteli's poem Spring 		Imereti - My Mother
(David Kakabadze) 		2019 1 Oct 2019
₾20 132 × 66 Red Ilia Chavchavadze; Iveria &
Sakartvelos Moambe
newspaper 		Vakhtang Gorgasali statue;
Panorama and map
of Tbilisi (Vakhushti) 		2016 1 Feb 2016
₾50 137 × 68 Green Queen Tamar;
Vardzia monastery 		Sagittarius miniature;
12th century manuscript 		2016
₾100 142 × 70 Purple Shota Rustaveli; The
Knight in the Panther's Skin 		Georgian National Opera
Theater; Tavisupleba score 		2016 1 Nov 2016
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Earlier issues

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The National Bank of Georgia announced that banknotes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lari issued between 1995 and 1999 will no longer be legal tender on 1 January 2022. These currencies can only be exchanged at the National Bank of Georgia from 1 January 2022.[15][16]

Image Value Dimensions
(mm) 		Main
colour 		Description Issued
from 		First
issued[17]
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
₾1 115 × 61 Teal Niko Pirosmanashvili Tbilisi panorama;
Stag by Pirosmani 		2002–2007 5 Aug 2002
₾2 Peach Zacharia Paliashvili;
Abesalom da Eteri 		National Opera Theater 2002
₾5 Brown Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University 2002–2013
₾10 125 × 63 Blue Akaki Tsereteli;
Swallow; branches 		Imereti - My Mother
(David Kakabadze)
₾20 131 × 65 Maroon Ilia Chavchavadze;
Iveria & Sakartvelos
Moambe newspaper 		Vakhtang Gorgasali statue;
Panorama and map
of Tbilisi (Vakhushti)
₾50 135 × 66 Olive Queen Tamar;
Griffin 		Sagittarius miniature;
12th century manuscript 		2004–2013 29 Nov 2004
₾100 140 × 67 Green Shota Rustaveli;
Angels with cross 		Daniel in the den of lions
from Martvili monastery 		2004–2014
₾200 146 × 72 Yellow Kakutsa Cholokashvili;
Relief images 		Sokhumi;
iconostasis from Tsebelda 		2006 15 Apr 2007
₾500 143 × 66 Blue
green 		David IV Early Georgian inscriptions;
cross 		1995 Unissued
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.
Current GEL exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD RUB TRY
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD RUB TRY
From XE.com: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD RUB TRY
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD RUB TRY
Georgian kupon lari
Preceded by:
Georgian kupon lari
Reason: Replacement of the Soviet and Russian ruble with a transitional currency 		Currency of Georgia
April 5, 1993 – October 2, 1995 		Succeeded by:
Georgian lari
Reason: Hyperinflation
Ratio: 1 Georgian lari = 1,000,000 Georgian kuponi
Georgian lari
Preceded by:
Georgian kuponi lari
Reason: Hyperinflation
Ratio: 1 Georgian lari = 1,000,000 Georgian kuponi lari 		Currency of Georgia
October 2, 1995 – 		Succeeded by:
Current

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Where the lari sign is not available, the letter ლ or ISO code is used
  2. ^ "Lari banknotes". National Bank of Georgia. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d "Lari sign". National Bank of Georgia. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Georgian Lari has its own sign". National Bank of Georgia. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Lari proposal" (PDF). Unicode.org. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Announcing The Unicode® Standard, Version 8.0". Blog.unicode.org. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Currency Symbols : Range: 20A0–20CF" (PDF). Unicode.org. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  8. ^ "საქართველოს ეროვნული ბანკის საბჭოს - დადგენილება №8". სსიპ ”საქართველოს საკანონმდებლო მაცნე” (in Georgian). 5 October 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Georgian 1 and 2 tetri coins to be taken out of circulation". agenda.ge. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Stores begin rounding out Georgian 1, 2-tetri coins". agenda.ge. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  11. ^ "საქართველოს ეროვნული ბანკის საბჭოს - დადგენილება №3". სსიპ ”საქართველოს საკანონმდებლო მაცნე” (in Georgian). 2 November 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Old 50 Georgian tetri coins loosing legal tender status". agenda.ge. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Exchange of old Georgian 50 tetri coins to be possible from January 2019". agenda.ge. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Ganakhlebulilari.ge". Ganakhlebulilari.ge. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  15. ^ "The Term of Circulation for GEL Banknotes of 1995-99 Issue Expired in 2022". National Bank of Georgia. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Circulation term of 1995-99 GEL banknotes expires". agenda.ge. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  17. ^ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Georgia". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: Banknotebook.com.
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