Currency, Identity, and Nation-Building : National Currency Choices in the Post-Soviet States

Newly independent states issue currencies for both economic and political reasons. Politically, the national currency demonstrates their sovereignty and juridical independence to international audiences, and helps create common ties and unifying symbols within the country. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, all fifteen successor states faced the problem of creating, or at least reinforcing, new national identities to replace decades of Soviet identity-building. This paper shows how state leaders chose images on their currencies to fit with their visions of develop national identity. I create a typology of symbols available to national leaders and track which symbols all fifteen countries used on every banknote issued since independence. Based on that data, I make three main claims. First, each state had several different kinds of images it could use, so state leaders had the chance to choose from a menu of historically viable options. Some states emphasized their medieval heritage, others the development of 19th century nationalism, and others their 20th century modernization. This evidence suggests that national leaders act as if national identity is malleable. Second, contrary to some predictions, these countries’ currencies are not converging on a European or a post-modern model. Post-Soviet states have chosen a diverse set of symbols for their currencies and there is no single pattern that dominates. Third, I argue that differences in imagery are partially predictable by differences in regime type. More democratic states are more likely to choose to put individuals–poets, linguists, scientists, musicians, and other cultural figures–on their currencies. They are also more likely to include representations of women, although images of women are still rare. Authoritarian regimes are harder to predict: perhaps precisely because they have more autonomy from society their currency choices vary more