Catalog
0.5 Riel / 5 Kak Democratic Kampuchea
| Issuer | National Bank of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1975 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 110 × 50 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ០.៥ ចធាការកម្ពុជា ប្រាំកាក់ ១៩៧៥ (Translation: 0.5 Kampuchea Five Kak 1975) |
| Reverse description | Central vignette presents the four serene faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara as carved on the Bayon temple towers at Angkor, flanked by an industrial lathe machine, together evoking the Khmer Rouge ideal of combining ancient heritage with revolutionary modernisation. Khmer script inscriptions and the denomination '0.5' appear above and below the central design. The note is printed in a red and green colour scheme on plain paper. |
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| Comments |
The Khmer Rouge abolished the National Bank of Cambodia and physically destroyed Phnom Penh's banking district within days of seizing power in April 1975 — money was declared obsolete and the population was forcibly evacuated from cities. These notes were printed in anticipation of a new monetary system that the regime ultimately never implemented during its rule. Currency did not circulate under Democratic Kampuchea; the notes were stockpiled and essentially unused.
The printing date in the catalog data appears to be a data entry error — 30 April 1945 predates the Khmer Rouge by three decades.