Albanian lek

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The lek (plural lekë) is the currency used in Albania; it is worth about 1 U.S. cent or Japanese yen. ISO 4217 currency code: ALL. It is divided into 100 qindarka.

Contents

1 History
2 Names
3 Coins
4 Banknotes
5 External links

History

Reverse of 50 lekë, 1976

The lek was introduced in 1926. At first, there were four denominations in circulation. The lek was worth 100 qindar leku whilst the franga (franka) ar was worth 100 qindar ar or five lekë. The lek was equivalent to the Italian lira.

After the Second World War, only the lek and qindarkë (equal to the qindar leku) were issued. In 1965 and 1991, new lek were introduced, the first at an exchange rate of ten to one, the second at a rate of fifty to one.

Names

The name lek derives from the popular abbreviation of Alexander the Great (Leka i Madh). The name qindarkë name comes from the Albanian qind (hundred). Qindarke carries the same meaning as cent.

Coins

All coins have on the front side the value with branches. The reverse has various designs with the inscription "Republika e Shqipërisë" (Republic of Albania) and the year of production.

1 lek: Pelican
5 lekë: The eagle from the Flag of Albania
10 lekë: Castle of Berat city
20 lekë: Liburnian ship
50 lekë: Portrait of the Illyrian King Gentius
100 lekë: Portrait of the Illyrian Queen Teuta

Banknotes

There are various series of these in circulation.

100 lekë
200 lekë
500 lekë
1000 lekë
5000 lekë

External links

[Coins]
[Banknotes]

Currencies of Europe
Eurozone	Euro
Northern	Danish krone > Faroese króna \| Icelandic króna \| Norwegian krone \| Swedish krona
Baltic	Estonian kroon > Latvian lats \| Lithuanian litas
Western	British pound \| Guernsey pound \| Jersey pound \| Manx pound
Central	Czech koruna > Hungarian forint \| Polish złoty \| Slovak koruna \| Slovenian tolar \| Swiss franc
Eastern	Belarusian ruble > Kazakhstani tenge \| Russian ruble \| Ukrainian hryvnia
Southeastern	Albanian lek > Bulgarian lev \| Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark \| Croatian kuna \| Macedonian denar \| Moldovan leu \| Romanian leu \| Serbian dinar
Mediterranean	Cypriot pound > Gibraltar pound \| Maltese lira \| Turkish new lira
Transcaucasia	Armenian dram > Azerbaijani manat \| Georgian lari
Unrecognized Countries	Transnistrian ruble
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