THE CAUCASUS, AFTER THE SOVIET UNION
By Mark Benvenuto
January 14, 2013
The breakup of the Soviet Union reshaped the world in countless ways.
Last month we saw how quickly the Baltic States asserted and reclaimed
their independence and promoted it through a variety of circulating
and collector coins. We can also look to what had been the south of
the USSR and the Russian Empire before it and find that several other
nations were born from the aftermath of the Soviet implosion. They too
issued coins very quickly and have made their marks on the world stage.
Armenia
Armenia is a land with an ancient past, and because of its geographic
position, one that has been well recorded in the west. Ancient
Armenia was close enough to the eastern borders of the expanding
Roman Empire that the historian Herodotus took notice of the land
and its people, and mentions it in his writings. For a brief time,
Rome even held Armenia within the greater empire. As well, we have
ancient Roman coins mentioning Armenia that a person could pursue
today if they were thinking of making a complete collection. And,
yes, there are ancient Armenian coins that could become a lifetime
pursuit for anyone interested in the field.
For most of us though, it is the modern coinage of a newly independent
Armenia that will attract our attention. The monetary system is that of
100 luma being equal to 1 dram, and the first series, which included
denominations from 10 lumas to 10 drams, was issued in 1994. The
inflation that quickly ran through the new nation chewed up the value
of this system, and thus most of these first issue coins can today
be found in a well-stocked dealer’s bargain bin.
A second issue of circulating coinage came out between 2003 and 2005.
This second issue started with a small 10 dram coin, and ended with
a bimetallic 500 dram piece, indicating just how much the value of
the first series had been degraded away, as there are no luma coins
at all. Almost all of these circulating coins, in either series,
are available to a patient collector today, and again usually at
reasonable prices.
If it commemorative coins that are of interest to you, well, Armenia
built an impressive commem program and did it very fast. A complete
list, including photos, is available at the website of the Central
Bank of Armenia, and in English no less, at Unlike
the U.S. Mint and Congress, which tend to argue about just how many
commemorative themes to issue per year, the Central Bank of Armenia
pounded out numerous different coins in precious metals starting
in 1994.
The list includes some strangely shaped pieces, and themes that cover
just about anything a person might imagine. Some of the mintages are
very small, meaning only a few hundred of each coin were made. But the
combination of excellent artwork and the beautiful, flowing Armenian
script make many of these coins things of beauty and items worth
considering for any growing collection.
But in addition, Armenia created a series of circulating commemorative
coins. Since these tend to be made in base metals such as cupronickel
or brass-plated on steel, they are much more affordable if you can
find them. The 2012 series on the regions of Armenia has numerous
designs, and some pretty attractive images among them, such as the
Caucasian goat and the Temple of Garni.
Bullion Coins of Armenia
As if an extensive commemorative coinage program is not enough,
Armenia issued in 2012 a silver bullion set of coins with the theme
of Noah’s Ark (since the resting place of the ark has often been
believed to be in Armenia). Most of us can afford the silver pieces
that are fractions of an ounce, and even the 1-ounce and 5-ounce
coins. But the 1-kilo and 5-kilo pieces, with nominal values of
10,000 dram and 20,000 dram, might just be out of reach. Gorgeous,
big, silver bullion pieces to be sure, but probably not attainable.
Azerbaijan
Nearby to Armenia, the country of Azerbaijan has an equally ancient
history, although it seems to be less known to many of us in the
West. Like several nations that were absorbed either into the Russian
Empire or the USSR, Azerbaijan had a brief period of independence in
the early 20th century, first as part of the Transcaucasian Democratic
Federative Republic, then as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. During
this time the nation did produce a currency called the manat but did
not produce coins. Enthusiasts who want a manat note or two can still
find them, but it does take some patience.
They’re not the easiest items to come across.
In late 1992, immediately after the collapse of the USSR, a newly
independent Azerbaijan got back into the business of issuing its own
money, both in manat notes and in qapik coins. The system is 100
qapik to make 1 manat and, like all small denomination coins, the
5, the 10, the 20 and the 50 qapik coins were made of base metals –
brass and cupronickel at the outset, and aluminum later as inflation
also hit this country hard. These coins quickly faded from use but
can still be found in many dealers’ stock.
It was 2006 before the next series of qapik coins were issued,
and these had no date. From the 1 qapik up to the 50 qapik pieces,
there is a common side, showing the outline of the new nation. But
what many collectors will quickly realize is that there is another
parallel among all these coins and another series: the euros. The
smallest of the newer qapik denominations are copper over steel,
much like the smallest euro cents. The mid-denominations are brass
plated on steel, again like their euro brethren. And the 50 qapik
pieces are bimetallic, again much like the euros. While this can all
be considered a wonderful string of coincidences, one can also surmise
that this might be a first query into whether or not Azerbaijan could
be considered as a potential member into the expanding Eurozone.
Whatever the case, the coins are still another inexpensive set for
collectors today.
As with many nations, a series of commemorative coins designed
specifically for collectors has unfolded over the past 20 years,
in gold and silver. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan maintains a very
professional-looking website, , that gives a detailed
look at these commemoratives (and, yes, it also has a button that
translates the entire site into English!). If there is a problem with
these coins, it is finding them. They sell pretty close to bullion
values but are just never made in particularly large numbers. Once
again, patience is the watchword in forming such a collection.
Georgia
A bit north and west of both Armenia and Azerbaijan is the Republic
of Georgia. As with its neighbors, Georgia declared independence
just about as quickly as it could, but in this case before the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. It also quickly came out with a
paper coupon currency, using the name lari, and saw it jump quickly
into a hyperinflation mode.
Several different denominations of tetri, the subdivision of the lari,
were issued between 1992 and 1995, while the new Georgia was embroiled
in its own ugly, bloody civil war. The website of the National Bank
of Georgia, , contains a detailed explanation of these
coins, the entire monetary system from that time until the present,
and the background for them. The earliest were all made in stainless
steel, and when they are found at numismatic shows, they usually are
not too expensive.
In 2006 a new version of the tetra coinage appeared, with the 50
tetri and the 1 lari coins being base metal pieces with large enough
mintages that they can be found at affordable prices. Even the 2 lari
piece is available – and once again has something of a euro look to
it. It is bimetallic as the 1 and 2 euro coins are.
As with its neighbors, this new nation got into the commemorative
coinage game rather swiftly, issuing pieces that commemorate a wide
variety of themes, from the anniversary of victory in the Second World
War to the 3,000th anniversary of Georgian statehood (now that’s an
anniversary!). Some of the silver commems have good sized mintages,
but several of the more recent gold ones have tiny totals.
For instance, the two pieces honoring Georgian athletes at the Beijing
Olympics only have totals of 1,500 pieces each. Still, they are not
incredibly expensive, mostly because the collector market for them
also remains rather small.
Golden Fleece Bullion Coins
Georgia is one of the new nations that has not only gone in for a
commemorative coinage, but has issued a series of gold bullion coins,
much like the U.S. Eagles or the Canadian Maple Leaves. Issued with
values from 10 lari up to 1,000 lari and featuring the fabled Golden
Fleece of ancient myth, these coins start down at 1/10-ounce of gold
and end up at 10 ounces. Prices are supposed to be pegged to that of
gold metal, but because these are always more scarce than the bullion
coins of the larger nations, be prepared to pay some premium on any
that you do happen to find.
The coinage, both circulating and collector-based, of these three
nations is still a work in progress. It’s difficult to tell whether
silver or gold bullion coins from the Caucasus will join the other,
established players on the stage that is the world metals market. But
the region has been rich in metals and minerals for as long as anyone
can remember, and it’s not hard to imagine some great coins coming
out of the area in the future.
http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=26435
www.cba.am/en.
www.cbar.az
www.nbg.gov.ge