Mongolian tögrög

Mongolian tögrög
Монгол төгрөг (Mongolian)
20 tögrög 5000 tögrög
ISO 4217 code	MNT
User(s)	Mongolia
Inflation	16.3%
Source	Bank of Mongolia homepage, March 2009.
Subunit
1/100	möngö (мөнгө)
Symbol	₮
Plural	tögrög
möngö (мөнгө)	möngö
Coins	20, 50, 100, 200, 500 tögrög
Banknotes	10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000 tögrög
Central bank	Bank of Mongolia
Website	www.mongolbank.mn

The tögrög or tugrik (Mongolian: төгрөг, tögrög) (sign: ₮; code: MNT) is the official currency of Mongolia. It was historically subdivided into 100 möngö (мөнгө). Currently the lowest denomination in regular use is the 10-tögrög note and the highest is the 20,000-tögrög note. Currency sign is U+20AE ₮ tugrik sign.

In 2010, the tögrög was the best-performing currency world-wide.^[1]

History

The tögrög was introduced on December 9, 1925^[2] at a value equal to one Soviet ruble, where one ruble or tögrög was equal to 18 grams (0.58 ozt) of silver. It replaced the Mongolian dollar and other currencies and became the sole legal currency on April 1, 1928.

Möngö coins are not in circulation as currency any longer, as they are of negligible value. They are sold to tourists and as novelties and collectibles now.

Coins

During socialism, the tögrög coin denominations were 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 möngö, and 1 tögrög. After the Mongolian People's Republic came to an end in 1990 and inflation surged, the möngö coins were abandoned and larger tögrög values introduced.

Coin Series during the People's Republic of Mongolia era [1]
Images	Series	Composition	Obverse	Reverse	Date recalled	Valueless since	Script	Minted in	Calendar used
[2]	1925	1-5 möngö: copper 10-20 möngö: 0.5 silver 50 möngö, 1 tögrög: 90% silver	Soyombo	Value	1950	1970	Mongolian	Soviet Union	Mongolian Year 15
[3]	1937	1-5 möngö: aluminium bronze 10-20 möngö: cupronickel			1960	1970			Mongolian Year 27
[4]	1945		coat of arms, "Бугд Найрамдах Монгол Ард Улс" (People's Republic of Mongolia)		1970	1970	Cyrillic		Mongolian Year 35
[5]	1959	Aluminium			1990	1990		P.R. China	Common Era
[6], [7]	1970, 77, 80, 81	1-5 möngö: aluminium 10-50 möngö: cupronickel	coat of arms, state title in short (БНМАУ) for 1-5 möngö, in full for 10-50 möngö		—	—		1970, 77: East Germany 1980, 81: Mongolia
[8]	Circulating & commemorative 1 tögrög	1971: aluminium bronze, cupronickel, silver, or gold 1981: aluminium bronze	coat of arms, full state title, value	"БНМАУ", Damdin Sükhbaatar on a horse, "50 ЖИЛ" or "60 ЖИЛ" depending on the year	?	?		1971: East Germany 1981: Mongolia	—
	1981-88: 1 tögrög with various commemorative subjects	Aluminium bronze		6 designs, such as Karl Marx, Soviet-Mongolian space flight, etc.	?	?		Mongolia	Common Era

Current Coins [9]
Image		Value	Technical parameters				Description			Date of first minting
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse
[10]	[11]	20 tögrög	17.5 mm	1.5 mm	0.78 g	Aluminium	Milled	Value	Soyombo	1994
[12]	[13]	50 tögrög	23 mm	1.8 mm	16.8 g
[14]	[15]	100 tögrög	22 mm	1.5 mm	3.84 g	Cupronickel		Value, Janraisig Temple
[16]	[17]	200 tögrög	25 mm	1.7 mm	6.2 g			Value, the Government House
[18]	[19]	500 tögrög	22 mm	1.7 mm	4.1 g		Plain	Value, Soyombo	Damdin Sükhbaatar	2001
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

Like coins the tögrög banknotes were very similar to the Soviet ruble during the Mongolian People's Republic era. The similarities included color theme, overall design, and the lineup of the denominations, which were 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 tögrög unless stated otherwise. The color for each value is

• 1 tögrög: brown
• 2 tögrög: green
• 5 tögrög: blue
• 10 tögrög: green
• 20 tögrög: red
• 25 tögrög: lilac
• 50 tögrög: green
• 100 tögrög: brown

They were all printed in the Soviet Union. But modern tögrög banknotes are usually printed in Great Britain.

Banknote Series during the People's Republic of Mongolia era [20]
Image	Series	Obverse	Reverse	Date recalled	Valueless since	Script	Calendar used	Remark
[21]	1925	Soyombo, value	Value	1940	1966	Mongolian	Common Era	2 tögrög in green instead of 3 tögrög
[22]	1939	Soyombo, Sükhbaatar	Value	1955	1966		Common Era and Mongolian Year 29	25 tögrög in brown
	1941	Coat of arms, Sükhbaatar		?	?	Both	Common Era and Mongolian Year 31
[23]	1955			1966	1966	Cyrillic	Common Era	25 tögrög in blue on obverse, brown on reverse
[24]	1966	Coat of arms, Sükhbaatar except 1 tögrög	Value for 1-25 tögrög, the Government House for 50 and 100 tögrög	—	—	Both
	1981, 83		As above, except industrial theme for 20 tögrög					20 tögrög in green instead of 25 tögrög

1993 Series [25]
Image1		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description			Date of issue2	Usage
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		10 möngö	45 × 90 mm	Pink	Soyombo, Archery	Archery	—	1993	Very rare in circulation. Abundant among collectors.
		20 möngö	45 × 90 mm	Yellow-brown	Soyombo, Wrestling	Wrestling
		50 möngö	45 × 90 mm	Green-cyan	Soyombo, Horse riding	Horse riding
[26]	[27]	1 tögrög ( neg )	115 × 57 mm	Yellow-brown	Lion	Soyombo	Paiza			Genghis Khan
[28]	[29]	5 tögrög ( tavan )	120 × 60 mm	Orange	Sükhbaatar, Soyombo, Paiza	Mountainous landscape and horses eating grass	Rarely used anywhere but in banks
		10 tögrög ( arvan )	125 × 61 mm	Green			1993, 20023	The smallest commonly used note
		20 tögrög ( horin )	130 × 65 mm	Reddish purple
		50 tögrög ( tavin )	135 × 66 mm	Brown			1993, 20003
		100 tögrög ( zuun )	140 × 68 mm	Violet
[30]	[31]	500 tögrög ( tavan zuun )	145 × 70 mm	Green	Genghis Khan, Soyombo, Paiza	Mongolian yurts in motion	1993, 1997 20003, 20034
		1000 tögrög ( myangan )	150 × 72 mm	Blue			1993, 1997 20034
		5000 tögrög ( tavan myangan )	150 × 72 mm	Pink-purple		"Drinking Fountain" at Genghis Khan's court	1994, 20034
		10,000 tögrög ( arvan myangan )	150 × 72 mm	Orange			1995, 20024
		20,000 tögrög ( horin myangan )		Lime and purple		Nine White Banner		2006
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Remarks

1. Images shown are the earliest variations of each value
2. Issued dates are listed for up to 2003. It is known that there is a 2005 edition of 10 tögrög, but it is yet unclear whether or not it was the only value for the 2005 edition.
3. Lower value notes (10 ~ 500 tögrög) issued in 2000 and after have line-patterned color underprint on the entire note, where the previous edition had near-white solid color. But one exception to the rule is the 2000 edition of 500 tögrög.
4. High value notes (500 ~ 10,000 tögrög) issued in 2002 and after have a patch on the lower right hand side of obverse as an improved anti-counterfeit device, which was previously only available on the two highest values. The new patch is also more sophisticated than the ones in the 1990s. The two highest values also have their Soyombo symbol upgraded to a hologram.

Current MNT exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY RUB
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY RUB
From OzForex:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY RUB
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY RUB
From OANDA.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY RUB

Purchasing power

• 5 tögrög: a piece of candy is used to make change of 5Tg
• 10 tögrög: a couple pieces of candy
• 15 tögrög: three pieces of candy
• 100 tögrög: a ride across town on a trolleybus in Ulaanbaatar
• 200 tögrög: a ride across town on a regular bus in Ulaanbaatar
• 250 tögrög: a 250 ml bottle of coke from a supermarket
• 400 tögrög: average price of a bottle of water
• 700 tögrög: the cheapest meal at a tsainii gazar, or small restaurant
• 1500 tögrög: Average price of a pack of cigarettes
• 3000 tögrög: About what you pay for a Taxi ride across city center
• 10,000 tögrög a lodging at a tourist hostel in Ulaanbaatar

See also

• Economy of Mongolia

References

1. ^ WSJ article
2. ^ Bank of Mongolia. "History - National Currency - Togrog". Archived from the original on 2007-11-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20071112223613/http://www.mongolbank.mn/web/guest/banknotes/history. Retrieved 2007-12-15. 

External links

• Banknotes of Mongolia, Bank of Mongolia
• Website at the Bank of Mongolia with history of Mongolian currency and pictures of tögrög

Preceded by: Mongolian dollar Ratio: 1 tögrög = 1 Soviet ruble. Rate to dollar unknown.

Currency of Mongolia 1925 –

Succeeded by: Current