Kyrgyz som

Som is the currency of the Kyrgyz Republic. Kyrgyzstan was one of the first countries of the former USSR (and the first in post-Soviet Central Asia) to approve its own national currency. Among the currencies of the CIS countries, the som has the lowest cumulative inflation rate for the entire post-Soviet period. As of now in late 2024, 100 som is a little more then a dollar. The banknote depicts Toktogul Satylganov, a Kyrgyz Soviet people's akyn-democrat, singer and komuz player. His name became widely known even before the October Revolution among all the Kyrgyz, Uzbeks in the Fergana Valley, Kazakhs, with whom he communicated and was friends during his escape from Siberia. During Toktogul's life, the most distinguished Kyrgyz akyns (singer-composer, poet-improviser) and singers came to Ketmen-Tyube to meet with him. Since the end of the thirties, the poetic and musical heritage of the akyn has become an object of collection; his songs were recorded from the people, collections were published in major Soviet publishing houses, and research was conducted on his work.