1 Riel

The People's Republic of Kampuchea was proclaimed in January 1979 following the Vietnamese invasion that ousted the Khmer Rouge, and reintroducing currency was among the new government's first symbolic and practical acts. The Khmer Rouge had abolished money entirely in 1975 — a radical and catastrophic experiment that left the population without any monetary infrastructure for nearly four years. These 1979 notes were printed before domestic banking institutions had any real operational capacity, and the State Bank existed largely on paper at the time of issue.

Designed and printed with Vietnamese technical assistance, the series was distributed as part of a broader reconstruction effort, though the economy remained devastated and barter persisted widely in rural areas long after these notes entered circulation.