Like other republics of the former Soviet Union, Uzbekistan continued using the Soviet/Russian ruble after independence. On 26 July 1993, a new series of Russian ruble was issued and the old Soviet/Russian ruble ceased to be legal tender in Russia. Some successor states had their national currencies before the change, some chose to continue using the pre-1993 Soviet/Russian ruble, and some chose to use both the pre-1993 and the new Russian ruble. Tables of modern monetary history: Asia implies that both old and new rubles were used in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan replaced the ruble with soʻm at par in on November 15, 1993. No subdivisions of this som were issued and only banknotes were produced, in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 soʻm. Because it was meant to be a transitional currency, the design was rather simplistic. All notes had the Coat of arms on obverse, and Sher-Dor Madrasah of the Registan in Samarkand on reverse.
Coins
No coins were issued for the first soʻm.
Banknotes
The first banknotes were issued by the State Bank of Uzbekistan in 1993. All of the denominations share the same designs: the Coat of arms of Uzbekistan on the front and the madrasahs on Registan Square in Samarkand.
Second soʻm
History
On 1 July 1994, a second som was introduced at a rate of 1 new soʻm = 1000 old soʻm. This soʻm is subdivided into 100 tiyin.
Inflation
Until 2013, the largest denomination of Uzbek currency was the 1,000 soʻm banknote, then worth US$0.60, requiring Uzbeks to carry large amounts of notes just to carry out grocery shopping and bill payment. Since 2019, the largest denomination is the 100,000 soʻm banknote, which made the situation easier. The smallest denomination, the 1 tiyin, is worth less than of a U.S. cent making it the "world's most worthless coin" that is still legal tender. However, coins and banknotes smaller than 50 soʻm are rare now. The rampant inflation situation is considered a politically sensitive issue in Uzbekistan, which is why the Uzbek government is slow to acclimate the currency to its current value by issuing higher coin and note denominations. As a result, the current highest coin denomination in circulation is the 500 soʻm while the highest banknote denomination is the 100,000 soʻm. Official state figures put inflation as of the first half of 2011 at 3.6%, however accurate numbers are pinned far higher. Coins and banknotes below 25 soʻm are practically worthless now.
Coins
3 series of coins have been issued for the second soʻm. They can be easily distinguished by the script used for the Uzbek language. The first series was written in Cyrillic script, while the second and third series is written in Latin script.
Third series (2018)
In May 2018 the introduction of new coins valued 50, 100, 200 and 500 soʻm was announced. All previously issued banknotes and coins of those denominations are to be withdrawn from circulation by July 2020.
Banknotes
The second and current series, issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was released in 1994 in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 soʻm. A 200 soʻm banknote was issued in 1997, the 500 soʻm in 1999, the 1,000 soʻm in 2001, the 5,000 soʻm in 2013, the 10,000 soʻm on 10 March 2017, the 50,000 soʻm on 22 August 2017 and the 100,000 soʻm on 25 February 2019. The latter four denominations feature inscriptions in Latin-based Uzbek as opposed to Uzbek Cyrillic in banknotes of 1 to 1,000 Uzbek soʻm.
Exchange rates
At its introduction on 1 July 1994, 1 U.S. dollar was equal to 25 soʻm.
2017 reform
On 2 September 2017, President of UzbekistanShavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decree "On priority measures of liberalizing foreign exchange policy". The reform took effect on 5 September 2017. The currency was untethered from its US dollarpeg and started to float. As a result the soʻm's exchange rate to the US dollar increased from 4,210 Uzbek soʻm to 8,100 Uzbek soʻm. The new rate was even weaker than the soʻm's black-market convertibility of about 7,700 to the dollar. Restrictions on the amount of foreign currencies individuals and companies could buy were also abolished on the same day.
