1 Soʻm

The som was reintroduced in 1994 as Uzbekistan separated its monetary system from the Soviet-era ruble zone, but chronic inflation through the late 1990s had already eroded the purchasing power of low denominations to near-nothing by the time this piece was struck. A 1-som coin in 2000 was functionally worthless in everyday transactions — bread cost multiples of this face value.

Nickel clad steel was the pragmatic choice for a denomination that existed more on paper than in commerce.