10 000 Manat

The 1996 high-denomination manat series appeared during a period of acute monetary instability in Turkmenistan, where inflation following independence from the Soviet Union had severely eroded the purchasing power of lower notes. The 10,000 manat was among the highest values issued before Turkmenistan's 2009 redenomination replaced the entire manat series at a rate of 5,000 old manat to one new manat — effectively confirming how far the currency had deteriorated in real terms.

De La Rue printed this on a relatively simple security platform for the denomination, relying on watermark protection at a time when the printer was supplying far more sophisticated specifications to other central bank clients.