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1 Lek 1976, Albania

in Krause book Number: 40a
Years of issue: 1976
Edition:
Signatures: no signature
Serie: 1976 Issue
Specimen of: 1976
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 105 х 55
Printer: China Banknote Printing and Minting, Shanghai

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

1 Lek 1976

Description

Watermark:

watermark

Abbreviation of Albanian State Bank BSHSH, in a semicircle, near five-pointed star (repeated).

Avers:

1 Lek 1976

Albanian peasant woman, with sheaf of wheat, and a mechanic.

On some sites it is indicated that the man is a mechanic (apparently, based on a wrench sticking out of his pocket).

A man points to a woman with his hand, the way ahead (maybe, symbolically, "the path to a brighter future", or, maybe, the beauty of the surrounding area).

At the bottom is an inscription::"Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar. I Paguhet Prurёsit Me Tё Parё".

In English: "Bills of Albanian State Bank should be accepted everywhere in the country".

Revers:

1 Lek 1976

Rozafa Rozafa

Rozafa Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Rozafës) is a castle near the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 meters (430 ft.) above sea level, surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers. Shkodër is the seat of Shkodër County, and is one of Albania's oldest and most historic towns, as well as an important cultural and economic center.

Due to its strategic location, the hill has been settled since antiquity. It was an Illyrian stronghold until it was captured by the Romans in 167 BC. The XIX-century German author and explorer Johann Georg von Hahn suggested that the ancient and medieval city of Shkodër was located immediately south of the Rozafa hill, between the hill and the confluence of Buna and Drin. The fortifications, as they have been preserved to date, are mostly of Venetian origin. The castle has been the site of several famous sieges, including the siege of hkodër by the Ottomans in 1478 and the siege of Shkodër by the Montenegrins in 1912. The castle and its surroundings form an Archaeological Park of Albania.

The old Shkodër tradition says: the three brothers could not build a local fortress at all - it was falling all the time. And then they decided to sacrifice to the heavens and strengthen the walls with blood. It was decided that the wife of her younger brother, the beautiful Rozaf, should be walled up. He could not tell her that for a long time. But one day he had to, and she courageously accepted it, saying: "Eclipse me so that I can feed my child." She was bricked alive at the base of the fortress, along with her son. In honor of her fortress and named Shkodër. Similar legends tell tourists about many castles and fortresses of Europe.

coat

Top, right is the Coat of arms of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania 1946-1992.

"The coat of arms of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania is an image of a black double-headed eagle, framed by two bunches of wheat ears, which have a five-pointed red star at the top and are tied at the bottom with a red ribbon on which the date" May 24, 1944 "is written."

Inscription at the bottom:"Ligja dёnon ata qё fabrikojnё dhe ndajne bileta tё fallsifikuara".

In English: "Forgery of state bills is punishable by law".

Comments:

In 1965, notes (dated 1964) were introduced by the Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 lekë. A second series of notes was issued in 1976 when the country changed its name to the People's Socialist Republic.