The word tenge in Kazakh and in most other Turkic languages means a set of scales (cf the old Uzbek tenga or the Tajik borrowed term tanga). The origin of the word is the Mongolic word teng (ᠲᠡᠩ) originating from Chinese děng (等 or 戥) which means “being equal, balance”. The name of the currency is also related to the Russian word for money Russian: деньги/ den’gi, which the Old Russian language borrowed from Turkic sources.

In 1993, the first series of coins in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 tiyin featured the national arms in bronze. ₸ 1, ₸ 3, ₸ 5, ₸ 10, and ₸ 20 coins, depicting stylized animals in cupro-nickel, were introduced. In 1998, a new coin series emerged, with ₸ 1 as the smallest denomination, and ₸ 100 replaced equivalent notes in 2002. In 2019, a coin series with Latin-based Kazakh inscriptions replaced Cyrillic. ₸200 coins were issued in 2020 after their announcement by the National Bank of Kazakhstan in the same year.