Old and new currency in Albania. Why the us still old naming?
Posted by NoSenseNitro@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 14 comments
This question is probably more for Albanians, although I'm sure there are similar things in many places in the Balkans. I often see ads like this: Apartment rental, monthly price 300 mij leke (that's a little over 3,000 euros or like 300k lek), but they actually mean 300 euros (that's 30,000 Lek). I know that in Albania, this comes from the name of some old Lek currency. But that seems to have been around for a long time. Why do they still use such designations?
tejanaqkilica@reddit
To address inflation, Albanian government issued a new currency (back in the 1960s). They decided that the new currency would have the exact same name as the old currency and the currency would exchanged 10 to 1. So, 3000 ALL with the old currency, would become 300 ALL with the new currency. Since you can't swap physical currency overnight, there's a transition period where both are used. So when you go to buy something and the seller tells you it costs 45'000 ALL, you ask whether they meant with the old currency or the new currency, so old ALL or new ALL. Hence the dual naming.
As to why is still used today, 60+ years later? We're stubborn and/or ignorant.
ManVSReddit@reddit
To add to this, the design of the notes was exactly the same . In 1957 when the currency was changed a 10 lek note (say) had the same exact design as a 100 lek note. All denominations looked the same, and this made the adaptation of the new amounts confusing and difficult. Imagine a $20 bill becoming overnight a $2bill but it looks exactly the same.
To make matters worse the currency was still called LEK. The switch may have been easier to adapt if the currency had a different name and the public could differentiate.
The problem also became magnified because, in a very non typical way, the government did not enforce the concept at all. All business and shop (which were government run) continued to entertain the concept and even label things in “Old Lek”. This continued until the collapse of the communist system.
From the day you were born you learned to accept that the labeled price had one extra zero unless it specified “New Lek” somewhere. Generations grew up learning this system and it gets passed on from generation to generation and will remain so until we change our currency from Lek to something else.
I once argued with a Greek taxi driver for hours (back when Albania had just opened up) because he wanted to charge me 800 Drachmas and my Albanian New Money brain thought he wanted 8000 Drachmas- we were so isolated I had no idea that “old money -new money “shit applied only to us
TwentinQuarantino@reddit
Do you think that's stubborn? 60 years, that's nothing. Czechs still call a CZK 10 coin "pětka", meaning five, because there was a then new currency introduced in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (CZ was a part of) in 1892, which exchanged with the old currency 1:2, therefore the old 5 became the 10 of the new currency.
Fast forward 134 years later, two world wars and multiple changes of governments, borders, countries CZ was a part of, and multiple changes of various currencies, Czechs still call their coin like that.
tejanaqkilica@reddit
Nothing but respect for that level of commitment.
int23_t@reddit
Turkish government did the exact same thing but during the transition period official name had new in it, TL would be old currency and YTL would be new currency. So prices during transition period used YTL. But after transition they dropped Y and we still have old people use the old numbers for new currency. At least the difference is so big that you get it immediately, it's 6 zeroes of difference. With a singular zero difference it would be impossible to just get what they mean from speech... it sounds horrible
ISV_VentureStar@reddit
Same for Bulgaria in 1997. Due to government mismanagement we had a hyperinflation crisis so we made a new currency with a 1000:1 exchange rate. Old currency was BGL, new one was BGN but both were called Lev.
Thankfully we're now in Euro so we have some actual grown-ups in the European Central Bank managing our currency instead of our dumb corrupt politicians.
RebelKitten69@reddit
Happens in macedonia too. For example istead of 10 denari people say 1 miljarda and instead of 100 denars they say 10 miljardi, mirroring the late hyperinflated yugoslav money (milijardi = billions) Don't know if this is a regional thing or country wide though.
oyMarcel@reddit
Nicest apartment in Cluj
dwartbg9@reddit
Please, post this in the albanian subreddits.
Ujemegaz@reddit
For the next thousands years we will refer to old lek. Being obstinate spared us from assimilation.
Plastic-Cap-7169@reddit
Go to the Albanian subreddit.
Ujemegaz@reddit
You too 🤣
ThingCandid9553@reddit
Looks like a prison cell.
Istar10n@reddit
Some people do the same in Romania. I occasionally still use the old values, I once told a bank employee that I wanted to withdraw 30 million lei (3000 RON actually). She thought I meant 30 million RON and asked if I had made an appointment. I have no idea why she assumed I was rich instead of just making a common mistake.