  the dram (; sign: ; code: amd) is the monetary unit of armenia. it is subdivided into 100 luma (). the word "dram" translates into english as "money" and is cognate with the greek drachma and the arabic dirham. the first instance of a dram currency was in the period from 1199 to 1375, when silver coins called dram were issued. ==history== on 21 september 1991 a national referendum proclaimed armenia as an independent republic from the soviet union. the central bank of armenia, established on 27 march 1993, was given the exclusive right of issuing the national currency. in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the soviet union attempts were made to maintain a common currency (the russian ruble) among cis states. armenia joined this rublezone. however it soon became clear that maintaining a common currency in the unstable political and economical circumstances of the post-soviet states would be very difficult. the rublezone effectively collapsed in july 1993 when russia unilaterally started a currency reform. as result the states that were still participating (kazakhstan, uzbekistan, turkmenistan, moldova, armenia and georgia) were 'pushed out' and forced to introduce separate currencies. armenia was one of the last countries to do so when it introduced the dram on 22 november 1993.pomfret, richard (2001). the imf and the ruble zone. available at: http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1057/ces.2002.17 ===armenian dram sign===  thumb|100px|left|the dram sign in 1995 the cur
1993_introductions Circulating_currencies Currencies_of_Asia Economy_of_Armenia