Lao kip of the Soviet collapse in 1991 and the persistence of chronic inflation, there are no coins currently in circulation in Laos. In 1979, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 kip. 500 kip notes were added in 1988, followed by 1000 kip in 1992, 2000 and 5000 kip in 1997, 10,000 and 20,000 kip in 2002 and 50,000 kip on January 17, 2006 (although dated 2004). On November 15, 2010 a 100,000 kip banknote was issued to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the founding of the capital, Vientiane, and the 35th anniversary of the
Kip (unit) Kip (unit) A kip is a US customary unit of force. It equals 1000 pounds-force, used primarily by American architects and engineers to measure engineering loads. Although uncommon, it is occasionally also considered a unit of weight, equal to 1000 pounds, i.e., one half of a short ton. One use is as a unit of deadweight to compute shipping charges. The name comes from combining the words "kilo" and "pound"; it is occasionally called a "kilopound". Its symbol is kip, or less frequently, klb. When it is necessary to clearly distinguish it as a unit of force rather than mass,