1 Lek

The 1965 Albanian lek series was issued under strict economic isolation — by this point Hoxha's government had broken with the Soviet Union and was deepening its alignment with China, which left the Albanian monetary system almost entirely cut off from Western financial infrastructure. These notes circulated in an economy where private trade was illegal and currency itself functioned more as a rationing instrument than a medium of exchange.

The series was printed in China, a direct consequence of that political realignment — one of the few concrete material traces of the Sino-Albanian relationship visible in everyday objects.