Kazakhstan's Colorful Currency Turns 20

A Kazakh National Bank employee shows a set of Kazakhstan's new tenge banknotes during a presentation in Almaty in 2006.

A 2,000-tenge note, whose design was nominated for an award from the International Bank Note Society.

A 5,000-tenge note issued in 2011 with a new design, named the Bank Note of the Year by the International Bank Note Society.

A 1,000-tenge note issued in 2010 to commemorate Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

A 10,000-tenge note issued in 2006 shows Astana's Bayterek monument and the presidential palace.

A 200-tenge note shows the Bayterek monument and the Transport and Communications Ministry.

A 10,000-tenge banknote issued in 2003 shows 10th-century philosopher Al-Farabi and a snow leopard against an alpine backdrop.

The 1993 printings of tenge notes and coins are on display at the currency museum of the National Bank in Almaty.

A 10-tenge note from 1993 shows historian Shoqan Ualikhanov and Okzhetpes Mountain, where legend says a captive Oirat woman pledged marriage to any man who could shoot an arrow to the summit.

A 20-tenge note features Kazakh poet Abay Kunanbaev and a rider with a golden eagle.

A 100-tenge note from 1993 shows 18th-century Kazakh commander Ablai Khan and the mausoleum of Hodja Ahmed Yassavi, a 12th-century Turkic poet and Sufi mystic.