10 Lek

Albania's 1965 currency reform was part of a broader redenomination that replaced the old lek at a rate of 10 to 1, effectively wiping out accumulated inflation from the postwar years. The State Bank was the sole issuing authority under Enver Hoxha's government, which had by this point severed ties with both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and was moving toward its singular alignment with China — a shift that pushed Albanian monetary policy into almost complete isolation from international financial systems.

The 1965 series was printed with Chinese technical assistance, a detail that distinguishes it sharply from earlier Albanian issues produced with Soviet involvement.