Georgian lari

The Georgian Lari currency sign, introduced on 8 July 2014.

On 8 July 2014, Giorgi Kadagidze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), introduced the winning proposal for the sign of the national currency to the public and its author. The Georgian lari had its own sign.[3]

The NBG announced the Lari sign competition in December 2013. The temporary commission consisted of representatives of NBG, the Budget and Finance Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, the State Council of Heraldry, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.[4]

In choosing the winning sign, the commission gave priority to the samples based on the Georgian Mkhedruli character and made a point of the following criteria: conception, design, accordance with Georgian alphabet, existence of elements marking the currency, ease of construction, and observance of requests and recommendations determined by competition rules.[4]

The Lari sign is based on an arched letter ლ (Lasi) of the Georgian script. It is common international practice for a currency sign to consist of a letter, crossed by one or two parallel lines. Two parallel lines crossing the letter Lasi are the basic components of the Lari sign. The so-called “leg” of the letter, represented by a horizontal line, is a necessary attribute of the sign, adding monumental stability to the upper dynamic arc. The form of the letter is transformed in order to simplify its perception and implementation as a Lari sign.[4]

The author of the winning sign is a professional artist-ceramist, Malkhaz Shvelidze.[4]

On 18 July 2014, Giorgi Melashvili, executive director of the National Bank of Georgia, sent a request letter to the Unicode Consortium to register the symbol in the Currency Symbols block of the Unicode Standard as

₾ U+20BE GEORGIAN LARI SIGN[5]

On 17 June 2015, the Unicode Consortium released[6] Unicode V8.0, which includes the Lari sign as

U+20BE ₾ LARI SIGN[7]

Coins are issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tetri, as well as 1 and 2 lari.

Second Series (2006)
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse
		50 Tetri	24 mm	6.52 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	The denomination numeral “50”, and the legend თეთრი (tetri).	The coat of arms of Georgia, surrounded with a symbolic image of Sun beams, the legends საქართველო, and the date of issue “2006” under the coat of arms.
		1 Lari	26.2 mm	7.85 g	Copper-nickel	Reeded with incuse lettering: the country name in Georgian and English (საქართველო and "Georgia")	Half-milled. Denomination numeral “1” and legend ლარი (lari).	Half-milled. The coat of arms of Georgia, the legend საქართველო on the upper left side, and the date of issue “2006” on the lower right side.
		2 Lari	27 mm	8 g	Bi-Metallic Copper-aluminium-nickel center in Copper-nickel ring	Reeded with incuse lettering: the country name in Georgian and English (საქართველო and "Georgia")	Denomination numeral “2” and legend ლარი (lari). The silver-color milled surface has an original design, representing a central symbolic image of sun rays.	The coat of arms of Georgia, the rim with a circular legend საქართველო, and the date of issue “2006”.

First series (1993)
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse
		1 Tetri	15 mm	1.38 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	The denomination numeral "1" on the upper part of the coin, with the legend თეთრი (tetri) and the vine tendril underneath.	The Borjgali (a Georgian symbol of the Sun with seven rotating rays) over the Christian Tree of Life, and the date of mintage, “1993”, with Georgian and English marginal legends on it, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკა and "Republic of Georgia".
		2 Tetri	17.5 mm	1.9 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	Peacock with spread wings on the upper part of the coin, with the legend თეთრი (tetri) and denomination numeral “2” underneath.
		5 Tetri	20 mm	2.5 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	Golden statue of a lion from the 3rd millennium BC barrow of the Alazani valley, with the denomination numeral “5”, and the legend თეთრი (tetri) underneath.
		10 Tetri	21.9 mm	3 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	Saint Mammes riding the lion, 11th century silver plate gilded with gold from the Gelati Monastery. The denomination numeral “10” on the right hand of the coin, and the legend თეთრი (tetri) underneath
		20 Tetri	25 mm	5 g	Stainless Steel	Smooth	The stag from a painting by the Georgian painter Niko Pirosmanashvili (Pirosmani), with the denomination numeral “20” on the left-hand side, and the legend თეთრი (tetri) underneath.
		50 Tetri	19 mm	2.45 g	Brass	Smooth	The relief of a Griffin from the eastern façade of 11th century Samtavisi Cathedral, with the denomination numeral “50”, and legend თეთრი (tetri) underneath.

Between November 2016 and October 2019 the National Bank of Georgia released five banknotes (in denominations of ₾5, ₾10, ₾20, ₾50, and ₾100), composing a new complete set.[8] The 2016–2019 series lari notes are produced by Polish Security Printing Works (Polish: Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych).[9]

Image		Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Description		Date of
obverse	reverse				obverse	reverse	printing	issue
		₾5 (Khuti lari)	122 × 62 mm	Brown	Portrait of Georgian author Ivane Javakhishvili with the legend ივანე ჯავახიშვილი 1876–1940, main building of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University	Details from Niko Pirosmani paintings Threshing and Fisherman in a Red Shirt, and the coat of arms of Georgia		2017	1 September 2017
		₾10 (Ati lari)	127 × 64 mm	Blue	Portrait of Georgian author Akaki Tsereteli with the legend აკაკი წერეთელი 1840–1915, an excerpt from Tsereteli's poem Spring	Detail from Georgian artist David Kakabadze's painting Imereti - My Mother, and the coat of arms of Georgia		2019	1 October 2019
		₾20 (Otsi lari)	132 × 66 mm	Magenta	Portrait of Ilia Chavchavadze, with the legend ილია ჭავჭავაძე 1837–1907, the magazines Sakartvelos Moambe and Iveria, founded by him, and his personal belongings	Sculpture of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, founder of Tbilisi, Vakhushti Bagrationi's 18th century map of Tbilisi, a panorama of old Tbilisi and the Narikala fortress, and the coat of arms of Georgia		2016	1 February 2016
		₾50 (Ormotsdaati lari)	137 × 68 mm	Green	Portrait of Georgian Queen Tamar with the legend თამარ მეფე XII ს., 12th–13th century Vardzia cave monastery complex and a bas-relief from the 13th century Pitareti Virgin Mary Monastery	Miniature of a Sagittarius, a 12th century manuscript, and the coat of arms of Georgia		2016	1 February 2016
		₾100 (Asi lari)	142 × 70 mm	Violet	Portrait of the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli with the legend შოთა რუსთაველი XII ს., an illustration from the epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin, a page from its original prints and an ornament from its original manuscript and a 7th century bas-relief of Daniel in the lions' den from the Martvili Cathedral of Assumption of the Virgin Mary	The Zakaria Paliashvili Georgian National Opera Theater, a fragment from the score of the Georgian national anthem and the coat of arms of Georgia		2016	1 November 2016
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.