Etymology

The word tenge in Kazakh and in most other Turkic languages means a set of scales (cf the old Uzbek tenga or the Tajik borrowed term tanga). The origin of the word is the Mongolic word teng (ᠲᠡᠩ) originating from Chinese děng (等 or 戥) which means "being equal, balance". The name of this currency is thus similar to the pound, lira, peso, taka, and shekel. The name of the currency is also related to the Russian word for money Russian: деньги/ den'gi, which the Old Russian language borrowed from Turkic sources.^[7]

Symbol

Originally a simple letter "Т" was used to denote amounts in tenge, this is still recommended when the tenge symbol is not available.^[8] In autumn 2006 the National Bank of Kazakhstan organised a competition for a unique symbol for the currency and received over 30,000 applications. On March 20, 2007, two days before the Nauryz holiday, the National Bank of Kazakhstan approved a graphical symbol for the tenge: ₸. On March 29, 2007, the Bank announced two designers from Almaty, Vadim Davydenko and Sanzhar Amirkhanov, as winners for the design of the symbol of the Kazakhstani tenge. They shared a prize of ₸1,000,000 and the title of "parents" of the tenge symbol.^[9] The character was included in Unicode 5.2.0 (August 2009) at code point U+20B8.^[10]

First series (1993)

In 1993, the first series of coins were introduced in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 tiyin featuring the national arms and were struck in bronze. The coins of ₸ 1, ₸ 3, ₸ 5, ₸ 10, and ₸ 20 were struck in cupro-nickel and depicted stylized and mythical animals. The coins of this period circulated alongside tiyin and low denomination tenge notes of equal value. Tiyin coins were withdrawn as of February 7, 2001 and lost their effect as legal currency as of December 31, 2012.^[11][12]

Second series (1998)

In 1998, a new series of coins was introduced. After the withdrawal of tiyin denominated coins ₸ 1 became the smallest denomination. ₸ 100 were later introduced in 2002 replacing the equivalent notes. A ₸ 2 coin was introduced in 2005. In 2013 the alloy of lower denomination coins was altered.

Third series (2019)

In 2019, a new series of coins was introduced into circulation, with the same coin specifications and metallic compositions as the second series. But with the inscriptions of the coins now rendered in Latin-based Kazakh instead of Kazakh-based Cyrillic.

The coins were issued as part of the efforts of the presidential decree issued by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev of its transition of switching from a Cyrillic-based alphabet to a Latin-based alphabet and emphasizing Kazakh culture and distance the country from Russian influence. The designs of the coins were approved by Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on March 20, 2019. Previously issued coins bearing the Kazakh Cyrillic script will remain legal tender alongside the new Kazakh Latin inscribed coins. In 2019, the National Bank of Kazakhstan announced the issuance of new ₸200 coins, which were issued into circulation in 2020. This new denomination features inscriptions in Latin-based Kazakh, and like the ₸100 coin, is bi-metallic.^[14]

More information Third series coins of the Kazakh tenge (2019–present), Image ...

Third series coins of the Kazakh tenge (2019–present)[15]
Image	Value	Technical parameters				Description			Date of
		Diameter	Mass	Thickness	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	minting	issue	withdrawal	lapse
	₸1	15 mm	1.63 g	1.3 mm	Carbon steel, galvanic coating yellow metal	Plain	Value	Year, Emblem of Kazakhstan	2019~present	26 April 2019	Current
	₸2	16 mm	1.84 g	1.3 mm
	₸5	17.27 mm	2.18 g	1.3 mm
	₸10	19.56 mm	2.81 g	1.3 mm
	₸20	18.27 mm	2.9 g	1.6 mm	Carbon steel and galvanic nickel	Grooved	Value	Year, Emblem of Kazakhstan	2019~present	26 April 2019	Current
	₸50	23 mm	4.7 g	1.6 mm
	₸100	24.5 mm	6.65 g	1.95 mm	Inner disk: alloy of "nickel silver", white color Outer disk: alloy of "nibrass", yellow color.	Grooved with the note - «JÚZ TEŃGE» (one hundred tenge)
	₸200	26 mm	7.5 g	1.9 mm	Aluminium-brass center in copper-nickel ring	Sixteen indentations ('Spanish flower') with alterned plain and reeded sections			2020~present	28 January 2020
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

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Commemorative coins

Commemorative coins are issued in denominations of ₸20, ₸50, ₸100, ₸500, ₸1,000, ₸2,500, ₸5,000 and ₸10,000. Silver and gold bullion coins exist in denominations of ₸1, ₸2, ₸5, ₸10, ₸20, ₸50 and ₸100. Many of the ₸20 and ₸50 commemoratives are also struck in cupro-nickel and occasionally make it out into general circulation as a side coinage with face value.

1993 series

On 15 November 1993, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 tiyn, T 1, T 3, T 5, T 10, T 20, and T 50; T 100 notes followed shortly thereafter. These were followed in 1994 by T 200, T 500, and T 1,000 notes. T 2,000 notes were introduced in 1996, with T 5,000 in 1999 and T 10,000 on 28 July 2003.^[16] Notes currently in circulation are:

• ₸200 - portrait of Al-Farabi
• ₸500 - portrait of Al-Farabi, fragment of Khodzha Akhmet Yassaui mausoleum
• ₸1,000 - portrait of Al-Farabi
• ₸2,000 - portrait of Al-Farabi
• ₸5,000 - portrait of Al-Farabi
• ₸10,000 - portrait of Al-Farabi, image of snow leopard.

2006 series

The National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new series of tenge banknotes in 2006. This was not a currency reform as they replaced existing notes at face value.

The 2006 series is far more exotic than its predecessors. The obverse is vertical and the denomination is written in Kazakh. All denominations depict the Bayterek monument, the flag of Kazakhstan, the Coat of arms, the handprint with a signature of president Nursultan Nazarbayev and fragments of the national anthem. The main differences across each denomination are only the colours, denominations and underprint patterns.

On the contrast, the reverse side of the notes are more different. The denomination is written in Russian, and each denomination shows a unique building and geography of Kazakhstan in the outline of its borders.

The first printing of the ₸2,000 and ₸5,000 notes issued in 2006 had misspellings of the word for "bank" (the correct spelling "банкі" bankı was misspelled "*банқі" banqı). The misspelling was a politically sensitive issue due to the cultural and political importance of the Kazakh language.^[17]

On 3 October 2016, the ₸2,000, ₸5,000 and ₸10,000 banknotes of the 2006 series lost their legal tender status and are no longer valid. From 4 October 2016 to 3 October 2017, these notes could be exchanged without commission at any second tier bank and branches of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.^[18]

2011–2017 series

The National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new series of tenge banknotes dated 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 in denominations of ₸1,000, ₸2,000, ₸5,000, and ₸10,000.^{[19][20][21][22]} The designs for this series feature the "Kazakh Eli" monument on the front of the notes. On 1 December 2015, a new ₸20,000 banknote was introduced. It contains the issue date of 2013, and is a commemorative note to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the introduction of its national currency, but was not issued until 2015.^[23] In 2017, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a ₸500 banknote as part of this series, but has caused controversy over an image of a gull on the reverse side of the note and the image of the Moscow business center in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana.^[24]

2023-2025 series

The National Bank of Kazakhstan announced a new series of banknotes set for issue from 2023 to 2025. Named "Saka", the series will introduce notes issued in a reduced size and incorporate many new security features for all six denominations. Banknotes of the previous series will cease to be legal tender after the release of each denomination, and will be redeemable at banks and post offices for up to three years. The National Bank of Kazakhstan will redeem all previous issues without limit.^[26]

New series with security features 2008

Since 2008, a number of commemorative designs have been issued, including notes celebrating the 2011 Asian Winter Games hosted in Astana. Commemoratives can typically be found in these denominations: ₸1,000, ₸2,000, ₸5,000, and ₸10,000.