Tajikistan’s official currency is the Somoni, which is equal to 100 Dirhams. Notes come in 100 Somoni, 50 Somoni, 20 Somoni, 10 Somoni, 5 Somoni, 1 Somoni, 50 Dirhams, 20 Dirhams, and 5 Dirhams.

They also have coins which, I am told, are being phased in (they are already in circulation and have been for some time, but are supposed to increase) as 20 and 5 Dirham notes are being phased out. Anyway, that’s what we heard at the internet cafe from the lady who refused to take 20 Dirham notes in change. Coins come in 50 Dirhams, 25 Dirhams (???), 20 Dirhams, 10 Dirhams, and 5 Dirhams. I have seen a 1 Dirham coin once, I think, but I’m not sure.

I personally prefer the coins, since the marshrutkas and trolleys (electric buses) cost 40 Dirhams and buses cost 30 Dirhams, so most Dirhams are in constant, fevered circulation and fall apart pretty quickly. Usually while in my posession, though possibly this is because I let them float around in the bottom of my purse until nearly disintegrated, when I suddenly try to pull them out from underneath something to pay for my marshrutka ride. So I’m all for the change.

But the putting of 20-Dirham coins into circulation and removal of 20-Dirham notes from circulation has had a significant effect on my (and thousands’ of others) daily lives, because it seems that they are taking the notes out of circulation more quickly than they are putting the coins in. Maybe it just seems this way, but I feel there is a serious lack of change in the city.

Keeping in mind that the most common notes under 1 Somoni are the 20 Dirhams (the cheaper local ice-cream cone also costs 20 Dirhams, by the way), most things are priced so as to ensure that change is available. Unfortunately, lately, whenever buying things that require 20 Dirhams in change, or worse, 40 Dirhams, I have been reimbursed with bags of tea or small pieces of candy at an “equivalent” value. Though, obviously, since I don’t eat stale Turkish mints or drink black tea and since I cannot use these as currency on marshrutki, I don’t really feel the market value very relevant to my personal situation. And it’s not only me.

Lately, instead of giving 60 Dirhams in change for the 40 Dirham ride on transport, some marshrutka conductors have started giving 50 Dirham notes, without any explanation. If someone protests, the conductor will say, “Okay, you can wait for change, but we don’t have any. 50 Dirhams or nothing, what can I do?” I have never seen a single person on the marshrutka offer to make change, probably because there is nobody who can do it. Everyone hoards his or her 20 Dirham notes so as not to be cheated in a similar way. Likewise, if you pay with a 50 Dirham note, you are not likely to get 10 Dirhams back unless you ask.

And then of course there are those bizarre 20 Dirham notes. I’m not sure if they are on their way in or on their way out, but if you should pay 45 Dirhams for a ride on public transport, you can forget about getting the 5 Dirhams back as change. Most of us assume that either the conductor (usually a very poor person) will keep the money if he manages to keep any extra, or that he will be forced to give out 25 Dirhams instead of 20 to someone who needs change. The latter is much more likely, and anyway, the conductor is not likely to save up more than one Somoni per day. Only the poorest people insist on the 5 Dirhams change back, therefore.

Yesterday, in an interesting turn of events, I saw a woman pay 30 Dirhams for the marshrutka. The conductor said, “What is this? It’s 40 Dirhams for the ride.” She replied, “Yesterday you gave me 50 Dirhams in change for a one-Somoni note, and so today, take your own medicine.” I wonder if the 20-Dirham coins will come into circulation before this becomes a city-wide phenomenon.