The som (Kyrgyz: сом; ISO code: KGS; sign: ⃀ (^с)) is the currency of Kyrgyzstan.

Quick Facts Кыргыз сому, ISO 4217 ...

Kyrgyz som

Кыргыз сому (Kyrgyz)
100 som note (2016)
ISO 4217
Code	KGS (numeric: 417)
Subunit	0.01
Unit
Unit	сом (Cyrillic) / som (Latin)
Plural	The language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	tyiyn
Banknotes
Freq. used	20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000 som
Rarely used	1, 10, 50 tyiyn, 1, 5, 10, 2,000 som
Coins
Freq. used	1, 3, 5, 10 som
Rarely used	1, 10, 50 tyiyn
Demographics
User(s)	Kyrgyzstan
Issuance
Central bank	National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic
Website	www.nbkr.kg
Valuation
Inflation	7.3% (December 2023)
Source	www.nbkr.kg

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The official name of the Soviet currency in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek was soum, and this name appeared written on the back of banknotes, among the texts for the value of the note in all 15 official languages of the USSR. The word som (alternatively transliterated "soum" or "sum") means "pure" in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uyghur and Uzbek, as well as in many other Turkic languages. The word implies "pure" silver or gold and thus is similar in etymology to sterling.

Currency symbol

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Som sign.

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic approved an underlined С (es) as the official currency symbol for the som in February 2017.^[1] It is represented in Unicode as U+20C0 ⃀ SOM SIGN.^[2]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union attempts were made by most republics to maintain a common currency. Certain politicians were hoping to at the very least maintain "special relations" among former Soviet republics, or the "near abroad". Another reason were the economic considerations for maintaining the rouble zone. The wish to preserve the strong trade relations between former Soviet republics was considered the most important goal.^[3]

The break-up of the Soviet Union was not accompanied by any formal changes in monetary arrangements. The Central Bank of Russia was authorized to take over the State Bank of the USSR (Gosbank) on 1 January 1992. It continued to ship Soviet notes and coins to the central banks of the fourteen newly independent countries, which had formerly been the main branches of Gosbank in the republics. The political situation, however, was not favourable for maintaining a common currency.^[3] Maintaining a common currency requires a strong political consensus in respect to monetary and fiscal targets, a common institution in charge of implementing these targets, and some minimum of common legislation (concerning the banking and foreign exchange regulations). These conditions were far from being met amidst the turbulent economic and political situation.

During the first half of 1992, a monetary union with 15 independent states all using the rouble existed. Since it was clear that the situation would not last, each of them was using its position as "free-riders" to issue huge amounts of money in the form of credit.^[4] As a result, some countries were issuing coupons in order to "protect" their markets from buyers from other states. The Russian central bank responded in July 1992 by setting up restrictions to the flow of credit between Russia and other states. The final collapse of the rouble zone began when Russia pulled out with the exchange of banknotes by the Central Bank of Russia on Russian territory at the end of July 1993.

The Kyrgyz som was introduced on May 10, 1993, replacing the Soviet currency at a rate of 1 som = Rbls 200. Initially only banknotes were issued, coins were not introduced until 2008.

Circulation coins were first introduced in January 2008, making Kyrgyzstan second to last of the former Soviet republics to issue them. Belarus became the last. This move came with growing demand from vendors for coins, especially from slot machine industries and those desiring a more efficient system for collecting fare money.

The coins were issued in denominations of 10 and 50 tiyin and 1, 3, and 5 som. A 10 som coin was issued a year later in 2009.

All coins are minted by the Kazakhstan mint in Ust-Kamenogorsk and bear some resemblance to coins of the Russian Federation.

More information Image, Value ...

Coins of the som (2008–present)^[5]

Image	Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of
		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	minting	issue	withdrawal	lapse
	1 tyin	14 mm	1.0 g	Brass-plated steel	Milled	flower (гүл/ gul)	Emblem of Kyrgyzstan, country name, year	2008	1 January 2008	Current, but not issued for general circulation
	10 tyin	15 mm	1.3 g							Current
	50 tyin	17 mm	1.8 g
	1 som	19 mm	2.5g	Nickel-plated steel	Milled	leather bottle, the "kookor" with symbol of a "tumar" represented by a triangle.	Emblem of Kyrgyzstan, country name, year	2008	1 January 2008	Current
	3 som	21 mm	3.2 g
	5 som	23 mm	4.2 g
	10 som	24.5 mm	5.4 g					2009	1 December 2009
					Lettering "Он сом", five-pointed star, «10 СОМ»				1 September 2014
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

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On 10 May 1993, the government issued 1, 10, and 50 tyiyn notes and the Kyrgyzstan Bank issued notes for 1, 5, and 20 som. In 1994, the Kyrgyz Bank issued a second series of notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 som. A third series followed from 1997 onwards in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 som. A fourth series was issued in 2009 and 2010 in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 som. Several commemorative banknotes intended for collectors were also issued.^[5]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Money of Kyrgyzstan.

• Economy of Kyrgyzstan
• Uzbekistani sum