«Meniñ pirim Süiinbai», «my patron is Suyinbay», said the great Zhambyl of his teacher. The National Bank took the portrait of the improvising poet Suyinbay Aronuly from the 3 tenge banknote of 1993 and placed it on this 200 tenge, issued on 6 December 2023 in the «Portraits on Banknotes» series.

Suyinbay (1815-1898) was born in Zhetysu, in today’s Zhambyl District of Almaty Region, and won fame as a master of aitys, the poetic contest in which victory goes to whoever answers the rival in verse most precisely and sharply. His aitys duels with the poet Katagan and with Tezek Tore are regarded as models of the genre. He also composed heroic epics about the batyrs Utegen, Karasai, Suranshy and Sauryk.

The reverse shows the poet’s portrait, the year «2023» and his name in Kazakh, «SÜIINBAI»; the obverse carries the emblem of Kazakhstan with national ornament and the legend «QAZAQSTAN RESPÝBLIKASY / REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN». The nickel silver coin was struck by the Kazakhstan Mint in 50,000 pieces; a silver 500 tenge version was issued in 2,000.

In a series opened by the portraits of al-Farabi, Kurmangazy and Suyinbay, this coin stands for oral poetry, the art the Kazakh steppe lived by for centuries. Uncirculated condition: the coin never circulated, shows no wear and keeps its mint lustre.

Every coin in the VPcoins catalogue tells a small story about the country that issued it.