MONUMENTS

2008

Sculptor: Eduard Shahikyan

Renovated: 2018

The monument to the national currency of Armenia, the dram, was unveiled on November 22, 2008, in front of the Central Bank of Armenia at 6 Vazgen Sargsyan Street. It was installed on the initiative of “Yerevan” magazine, on the occasion of Banker's Day and the 15th anniversary of the issuance of the Armenian dram. It was renovated on November 22, 2018, in connection with the 25th anniversary of the dram's issuance.

The sculpture is made of bronze, placed on a stone pedestal rising from a polygonal platform. It represents the symbol of the national currency in the form of a double-sided initial “Դ” (D), whose horizontal bar is doubled, similar to the symbols of several foreign currencies.

The Armenian dram came into use on November 22, 1993. The symbol was designed by Karen Komendaryan on September 7, 1995, and in 2001, on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia, he donated it to the Republic of Armenia. In the same year, in a competition held by the Central Bank of Armenia, sketches by Komendaryan, artist Ruben Arutchyan, architect V. Penesyan, and other proposed variants were presented. After discussions, the competition committee selected similar sketches by Karen Komendaryan and Ruben Arutchyan (not co-authors), ultimately giving preference to K. Komendaryan's version.

 “Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO

Yerevan Municipality