ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ
(Lao People's Democratic Republic)
ທະນາຄານ ແຫ່ງ ສ. ປ. ປ. ລາວ
(Bank of the Lao People's Democratic Republic)
Currency - Kip (LAK)
This is an odd note of 1000 kip printed with the year date of 2008. This is the only note issued with this given year.
As I said, this note is printed with the year of 2008, presumably, it was either released in 2008 or 2009 or even later, give or take a year or two. On the front, it depicts three beautiful young women in local costumes. Now, you might ask, what is wrong with that? My answer is none, and there is nothing wrong with that, after all, many banknotes are printed with the portrait of real people, like a reigning monarch, Head of State or a President, past or present. However, it was claimed that the three women depicted on the note are actually based on three real life people, and not based on the artist's impression. For this reason, it was also claimed that this note was later withdrawn from circulation because of this reason. Now, I cannot be sure about this, as I have no confirmation to say that it was actually withdrawn, given that no new 1000 kip banknote was issued later to replace this note since then. If the note was indeed withdrawn, it would have been done later and not immediately after it was released, as there are plenty in the market selling at a very affordable price. If the note had been withdrawn shortly after it was released, the price for this note would have been more expensive than the weight of a small sheet of pure gold!!
In my opinion, even though the note design was based on real life images of three women, I do not see any issues with that, after all, I am sure these three beautiful women would not mine either. Imagine that you get to have your image printed on a legal tender banknote, not one but in millions of pieces, and you are not even a Royalty or the President or some famous scientists or a legend in your own country. Furthermore, many people in the country get to keep a copy of your beautiful photo in their wallet/purse wherever they go, and how good is that? Well, I am sure these three women would have become overnight celebrities with the release of this note back in 2008. I wonder if they are still signing autographs, nowadays! Well, this is just my silly opinion.
This note is printed with a replacement prefix of DD.
Like all previous notes issued since 1968, there are no signatures on the note.
One Thousand Kip
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| Three native Laotian girls |
Front - The main design on the front depicts three young women with their native costumes. I understand that these three women basically represent the people living in the country by classifying them as from the lowland, middle altitude land and the highland, which is in the hill area. From the L-R, these women represent Lao Soung (highland), Lao Loum (lowland) and Lao Theung (middle altitude land). In Laos, there are at least 49 ethnic groups of people living in the country, and these are then divided into 160 ethnic sub groups of people. It would be impossible to design a note representing all ethnicity of people living in the country. The Lao Loum are the majority. This is how the government groups the people into three main groups, based on where they live. Today, the group has been expanded to four, mainly the Lao-Tai (the original Lao Loum), Mon-Khmer (previously Lao Theung), Hmong-Mein (Lao Soung), and the new group called Chinese-Tibetan. To the right of the note is the Pha That Luang shrine/stupa, and is located in the center of the capital city, Vientiane. It is believed that this stupa was built in the 3rd century AD. Since it was built, it was damaged by various foreign powers, mainly the Burmese, Siamese and the Chinese too, and was rebuilt and restored after the Second World War.
Dimensions - 143mm x 66.5mm
Watermark - Pha That Luang shrine/stupa
Back - One the back showing ten cattle grazing in an open field. In the background are two electricity power towers. On the left is an image of a female goddess, and underneath is an image of an elephant. The year date of 2008 is printed on the right side of the note.
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| Cattle grazing in an open field, two electricity power towers |
Footnote:
It should be noted that this is not the first time a banknote was issued with the design of three native women on it. In 2003, a similar note was issued with three native women with similar costumes, and in addition to these, many postage stamps have also been issued to showcase the native of Laos.
I do not believe that this note was not even nominated for the IBNS Banknote of the year in 2008. This note by far, is one of the most beautiful notes ever designed. I have seen the 2008 nominations, and you are telling me that the Zimbabwe 10 dollars note is more beautiful than this note, or the Paraguay 50000 guaranies note? Even this note is better looking than the Papua New Guinea 5 kina or the Mexico 200 pesos. I find this hard to believe!
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