1 Som

The Kyrgyz som was introduced in May 1993 as the republic broke from the ruble zone — one of the first Central Asian states to do so. The 1 Som denomination was always a low-value workhorse, and by 1999 inflation had eroded its purchasing power to near-negligibility. The series it belongs to, however, was printed by De La Rue, whose contract with Bishkek covered most of the early som issues.

Watermark-only security on a 1999 note reflects the bare-minimum specification typical of very low denominations, where production cost against face value leaves little room for sophisticated features.