Not tetri alone
If nowadays the people in Georgia prefer to keep their money in the banks, at earlier time they kept it under the ground. The money history of the country originates 27 centuries ago. During these 27 centuries the people could make payments with stones, gold bars, cattle, instruments and many other things. The first silver coin called kolhuri tetri (“kolkh white”) was minted in Georgia in 6th century BC. It circulated on the territory of Colchis in three denominations: tetradrachm, didrachm and hemidrachm.
After Alexander Makedonsky conquered Persia and many other countries of Europe and Asia, the trade routes expanded and there was a need for unified money. Presently rare “staters” and “tetradrachms” depicting Alexander came into circulation, and kolhuri tetri receded into the background. After the death of the emperor the coins with his depiction became pretty rare. Some time after that local fake coins were minted on the territory of Georgia, but they were not long into circulation.
Later Roman “aureus” (gold coins) depicting the cross and Iranian parthian coins depicting fire took over the circulation. Only after several centuries silver “tetri” followed mongolian copper coins. They are considered to be the first Georgian money.
70 years between rouble and lari
In summer 1918 the fund of national money was created in Georgia. The local people had to give all their savings and property to this fund. The contest for the design of banknotes was announced at that time. The Georgian painter Sharlemagne was the winner of that contest. The banknotes of Georgian roubles contained the script in national language, and on the other side one could find French and Russian expressions. The people understood that new money couldn’t avoid inflation, but accepted it with confidence. In 1920 Georgia signed beneficial agreements with European countries, the country received loans and by the end of the year it was ready for national currency launch.
But in 1922 the country joined USSR. The rouble became a national currency for more than 70 years. Only after gaining state independence status in 1990 Georgia issued its national currency. At first there were Georgian coupons equivalent to rouble. In 1995 lari came into circulation. Lari is translated as “wealth” from ancient Georgian language. The design of banknotes was created by the painters Nodar and Bachana Malazonia. Tetri became a petty cash coin.
By the way, Georgian money is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world, it is nice to see it at least once and to hold it in the hands. Also the modern Georgian banknotes have multi-layer protection, so it is difficult to counterfeit them.
Currency exchange? Not that easy!
One of the major financial revolutions in Georgia took place during Saakashvili president’s term in 2004. The president spent much time visiting foreign countries, attracted investments and made the life of people more European-like. Nowadays any financial issue can be resolved in a Georgian bank, though 15 years ago it was not easy at all.
However, not everything is going smoothly in Georgian financial world. If you want to send money from Georgia to Russia, you are going to have hard time. You should be prepared to have seven circles of hell of inquiries when sending large amounts: the source of money, the destination and the purpose of transfer. The best is to provide a documentary confirmation of the purpose of transfer. Then you will have to write an explanatory note regarding the source of funds. If everything went smoothly, you can proceed with paying the fee for the transfer.
You are going to face difficulties during the currency exchange as well. Regardless of what currency you would like to exchange, dollars, Euro or roubles, you will have to visit several currency exchange shops and banks. The spread on currency exchange rates can be up to 40 tetri, which is quite significant when exchanging large amounts. One more surprise for the tourists is the high volatility of local currency. The exchange rate can change several times a day, and if you decide to use a bank card, you will get familiar with all the beauties of the conversion at a loss.
But the major trap is waiting for you in fake currency exchange shops with the money changers. The scheme is classical: it’s lucrative according to calculations (the difference can be up to 10%), but the money can be fake. The favourite places of the scammers are markets and bazaars.
So, what to do?
It is not recommended to hold foreign currency in Georgia. It cannot be used as a payment method by law, and many hotels and restaurants will not accept it.
So, let us remember that a cheapskate pays twice and let us visit the bank. You can get 245 lari for 100 USD and 299 lari for 100 Euro. Not so good as with money changers (260 lari for 100 USD), but the money is real. You can buy a large package of food (3kg of rice for 3 lari, 1 liter of juice, 3 loaves of bread, 300 grams of meat), to pay for launch in the restaurant (25-40 lari), to pay 2 nights in the hotel (starting from 25 lari depending on level) and even to pay to a guide for some excursions. However, you are not guaranteed to exchange money at such an exchange rate, because there can be several spikes in exchange rates during the day…
“Why do we need all these troubles with money?” — asks a wise Georgian man, lighting a pipe. And he will use AraneoBit service where you can easily exchange money in local currency, to make transfers abroad, to make calculations and to record everything electronically in blockchain.