Paper Money

Mongolia celebrates its 1921 revolution with commemorative notes

The Bank of Mongolia released a 10,000-tughrik bank note to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mongolian Revolution of 1921.

Images courtesy of the Bank of Mongolia.

The Bank of Mongolia released a 10,000-tughrik bank note to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mongolian Revolution of 1921, according to the Mongolian Government News Agency on July 19. The new note is the U.S. equivalent of about $3.50.

The face of the note is a modified version of the standard goldish-yellow regular issue of the same denomination, with a large facing bust of Ghengis Khan (1158 to 1227), the Great Khan and founder of the Mongol Empire at the left, and a soyombo in the center. The latter is a special character in the Mongolian alphabet that has become the national symbol, appearing on the flag, national emblem, and official documents. It was invented in 1686 and is based on the Sanskrit word “svayambhu,” meaning “self-created.”

The commemorative additions are three-dimensional color-changing images of the revolution centennial “100” logo and an equestrian warrior statue. It also has some ultraviolet security elements and tactile features.

On the left side of the back, which is blank on the regular issue, is a bust of Damdiny Sühbaatar with an excerpt from a speech he made proclaiming the revolution. Sühbaatar was the one of the founders of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the entity that went on to be behind the founding of the communist Mongolian People’s Republic. As on the regular issue, the right side portrays the interior of ancient Kharakhorum city, the 13th century capital of the Mongol Empire.

A biography in Britannica describes how a young Sühbaatar joined the army as a machine gunner, and was given the honorific title Baatar (“hero”) for fighting the pro-Japanese forces.

After his military service, he trained as a typesetter but quickly got into politics and organizing revolutionaries. A visit to Russia in 1920 was seminal. He returned to Mongolia and in 1921 organized the People’s Army to fight against the already-defeated anti-Bolshevik forces that were were still occupying northern Mongolia. The People’s Army defeated the Chinese in March 1921, captured Urga, now the capital Ulaanbaatar, on July 6, and established a permanent government on July 10.

Sühbaatar became the new country’s first minister of war.

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