TIRANA, Oct. 30 – “100 Years of Independence: Our history reflected in the national currency” traced the history of the Albania’s national currency, Lek, for two days in an exhibition by the Bank of Albania held at the National Museum of History in Tirana. The traveling exhibition depicts the history of Albania’s national coin and banknote, which reflects at the same time the Bank of Albania’s development, starting with Ismail Qemali’s efforts to establish an Albanian central bank, continuing up to the present. Through this exhibition, the Bank of Albania aims to unveil the historical and cultural values of Albanian coins and banknotes issued through the years.
This exhibition displays collections of coins and banknotes belonging to different historical periods of the country. The symbols of coins and banknotes reflect the historical changes that have taken place in Albania, thus making Albania’s national currency be appreciated not only for its monetary value, but also for its historical one.
This exhibition displays also a series of commemorative coins on “The 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence”, issued by the Bank of Albania on this occasion.
In the framework of this momentous event in the Albania’s history, the Bank of Albania has minted a medallion on “The 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence”. The medallion depicts a design of the two-headed eagle on whose wings the Albanian flag flies, with the years 1912-2012 inscribed.
The coins issued on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the Bank of Albania’s medallion were displayed to the general public at the exhibition organized by the Bank of Albania from Oct. 25 to 27.
This is the sixth exhibition organized by the Bank of Albania in the framework of celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The first exhibition opened in Berat and later moved on to Gjirokastra, Korca, Elbasan and Shkodra. The last exhibition opens in Vlora, the flag town, in November.
The History of the Bank of Albania and its credit and monetary system in Albania is the history of the attempts preceding the foundation of the National Bank of Albania (1925-1944), the transformation to the State Bank of Albania (1944-1992), to be concluded in 1992 with the Bank of Albania, which enjoys with the attributes of a modern central bank.
Albania had its first central bank institution in 1913, one year after declaring its independence. The circulation of the first Albanian currency unit took place in February 1926. The gold franc was set out as the official monetary unit. The currency had its subdivisions (Lek, cents, 1 gold franc equated to 5 Lek and 100 cents) and its manifolds (5, 20 and 100 gold francs). The Head Office of the Bank of Albania is located in Tirana. It has 5 branches in the districts of Shkodra, Elbasani, Gjirokastra, Kor衬 and Lushnja.
The series is composed of three coins:
Golden coin 200 lek
The obverse has the two-headed eagle of the flag with the 200 lek face value written below it. The reverse has the effigy of Ismail Qemali. His name is inscribed below it.
Silver coin 100 lek
The obverse has the two-headed eagle of the flag, while the reverse has two concentric circles. The central circle contains the act of the Declaration of Independence. The second circle inscribes “Shqip쳩- Albania 2012” and “Declaration of Independence”.
Base metal coin 50 lek
The obverse has the two-headed eagle of the flag, while the reverse has a symbolic sculpture with two hands clasped together.
