The currency was introduced in 1993. In 2006, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a competition for the best symbol of the national currency. After the winning design was chosen, a scandal broke out, as it turned out that the chosen design was a plagiarism of the symbol of the Japanese postal service, which has been using this symbol for 120 years. The first batch of tenge was printed in England, and the first coins were pressed in Germany. Since 1995, Kazakhstan has had its own Banknote Factory.
