100 Roubles Biathlon

Transnistria — the narrow strip of territory between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border — declared independence from Moldova in 1990, a claim unrecognized by any United Nations member state. The Transnistrian Republican Bank nonetheless operates as a functioning central bank, issuing currency, commemoratives included, backed by a government that exists in a permanent legal grey zone. This biathlon piece was struck as part of a broader Winter Sports series ahead of the 2006 Turin Olympics, a games at which Transnistria, lacking international recognition, could not field its own team.