Albania - 1 Lek - P-40 - Group of 10 notes - 1976 dated Foreign Paper Money

Foreign Paper Money. Peasant couple/Hilltop fortress. Pick-40. The lek is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided into 100 qintars. The lek was introduced as the first Albanian currency in February 1926.

Before then, Albania was a country without a currency, adhering to a gold standard for the fixation of commercial values. Before the First World War the Ottoman Turkish piastre was in full circulation, but following the military occupation of the country by various continental powers the gold franc (Franc Germinal) was adopted as the monetary unit. In 1923 Italian paper circulated at Shkodër, Durrës, Vlorë, and Gjirokastër, and the Greek drachma at Korçë, the values of which varied according to locality and the prevailing rates of exchange as compared with gold. From 1926–1939, the Albanian lek adhered to the gold standard with lek banknotes being convertible to gold. Due to the gold standard, up until 1939, the lek did not experience significant inflation and the currency in circulation remained relatively constant. Following the Italian invasion of Albania, the entire gold reserves of Albania, totaling 300,000 gold francs, were confiscated and sent to the Reichsbank in Berlin. This action, coupled with the introduction of the Italian lira in Albania, led to significant inflation and the devaluation of the lek. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_lek

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